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Agriculture

AGRICULTURAL DRONES

 

Farms of the future

why use a Drone for agriculture? Book a Consultation

Want to know about a specific drones for farming application? Then use the contents area below.

Contents Area

Why use a drone for agriculture? Drones for crop spraying Crop inspection drones Agricultural mapping drones and best drone-mapping software DJI drones - a total solution for agriculture Drones for agriculture - case studies Drones v satellites Skippy Scout - drone crop scouting app Drones for agriculture FAQs

Why use a drone for agriculture?

Next-generation farming.

Precision Agriculture Is A Game Changer

For centuries, farmers have walked their fields monitoring the health of their crops. It is a time-consuming process. But this is changing. 

Agriculture drones are becoming a key driver to helping farmers increase crop production, monitor and inspect crop growth, build a richer picture of their fields, improve farming efficiency, and maximise outputs. 

Among the many benefits, drone data can be used to extract soil characteristics - including temperatures, moisture, and elevation - which helps more accurate soil sampling.

Drones and their sophisticated sensors can help farmers plan and troubleshoot irrigation systems, helping with water flow management and usage; monitor plant emergence and population to drive replanting decisions and improve crop models; and decide harvest plans by helping farmers anticipate a harvest's quality and final yield.

On-demand and high-resolution drone data is also perfect for capturing and accurately reporting events that lead to economic loss, like crop injury and reduced health. 

Drones cover areas more quickly, offer real-time insights, are more precise than traditional methods, and are less invasive to crops.
 
In a nutshell, drones provide vital data which helps farmers and growers monitor, plan and manage their farms more effectively - saving time and money in the process. 
Up to 100 acres
 
covered in a working day with a drone when the fields are close together.
85% lower planting costs
 
when using 3D field mapping and soil analysis with drones.
$1.3 billion annually
 
could be saved by corn, soybean, and wheat farmers by using drones, says one study.
$4.8 billion
 
is the predicted figure that the agricultural drone market will grow to by 2024.

How Can Drones Be Used In Agriculture?

The versatility of drones and their sophisticated sensors enables farmers to utilise the technology for a number of reasons. These include:

  • Crop Monitoring: Drones monitor crops accurately and more cheaply than traditional methods and offer key insights into crop development, as well as highlighting inefficient and ineffective practices.
  • Soil and Field Analysis: Drones can produce 3D maps, quickly and cheaply, which help farmers make important decisions about seed-planting pattern design and nitrogen-level management, for example.
  • Health Assessment: Drones can capture multispectral data to help farmers gather key insights into crop health. Such early intervention is crucial to remedy any issues.
  • Irrigation: Drones equipped with monitoring equipment can identify areas of a field experiencing hydric stress (lack of water). Thermal sensors provide crucial information, allowing targeted diagnosis of areas receiving too much or too little water.
  • Aerial Planting: Drones can fly over a potential planting zone to monitor the best areas for growth. They can then drop biodegradable pods, filled with seed and nutrients, into the ground.
  • Herd Management: Farmers are deploying drones to monitor livestock. In some cases, drones with loudspeakers, like the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise, are used for animal movement, playing a pre-recorded dog bark. Farmers say this method puts less stress on the herd.
  • Crop Spraying: Crops can cover large areas quickly, applying liquids with great precision.
  • Insurance: Drones can play a key role in insurance, at both the pre-and-post-claim stage. Using a drone helps for site inspection, claims decisions, fraud prevention, and risk management.
"Some of my experts have told me that it is almost like using the drone is a kind of uniting force in the relationship between them and the farmer. The farmer likes it that they are here and using something so accurate and cutting edge on their fields."

Philippe Vayssac, Groupama Rhone-Alpes Auvergne
"There is a huge appetite for drones in agriculture and farming. A drone can be turned into a useful farming tool – flying it over a field to give a farmer valuable insights and a range of information, and making walking fields a thing of the past."

Jack Wrangham, Drone AG

CROP SPRAYING DRONES

Automated, targeted and precise.

A safe and efficient solution

Agricultural drone spraying is becoming an increasingly popular application, helping to maintain crop health and yields.

Drones are being deployed for spraying for disease, weed, and pest control, as well as spreading pesticides and fertilisers.

Using drones for this application makes sense, offering a fully-automated, targeted and precise solution, and replacing labour-intensive, time-consuming, and potentially harmful use of backpack sprayers and other equipment. 

This method is particularly useful in areas where the terrain is undulating, steep, or hard to access.

Deploying a drone is also a cheaper option than using crop dusters to spray fields too large for manual labour.

Crop spraying drones are particularly prevalent in China, where government subsidies promote the use of agricultural drones. Leading drone manufacturer DJI has responded to this demand by engineering the Agras spraying drones. There are currently more than 40,000 active Agras on the market.           

Spraying drones are not currently legal in the UK, but trials are being conducted to try to change this. Many of these tests are based around bracken growth on inaccessible hillsides in upland areas important for sheep production. The aim is to build a portfolio of evidence to highlight the positive uses of crop-spraying drones and convince decision-makers to allow drone spraying.      

"We have been spraying vines in Switzerland using DJI Agras and our client is happy with the results of drone spraying. Comparing it to tractor spraying, he says the benefits of using the drone is no personal contact with pesticides, no phytotoxicity, and in areas of steep terrain the drone has much higher efficiency."             

Ueli Sager, Remote Vision
"Using drones to spray pesticides is more efficient than using tractors and is a reliable solution for plant protection. First of all, tractors harm the cotton when passing through, while drones prevent the cotton from being crushed. At first, farmers had doubts about drones, but then they witnessed the aircraft’s efficiency."             

Yuhuan Li, Agricultural Drone Pilot 

DJI Agras Crop Spraying Drones

High-tech agricultural spraying drones, the DJI Agras series is designed to increase efficiency and manageability of plant protection and fertilisation. 

The Agras T16, for example, features a 16L spray tank and is able to spray 24.7 acres (10 hectares) per hour. This is much faster than manual spraying methods. 

The Agras series can be deployed for a fully-automated, targeted, and precise spraying solution, allowing modern farms to save on labour while maximising coverage and outputs.

For increased efficiency, the Agras series can be used for swarming. Up to five Agras T16 drones can be controlled by a single T16 remote controller, while one Agras MG-1P controller can control up to five MG-1P aircraft simultaneously - doubling the efficiency of single-pilot operations.

DJI Agras MG-1P

  • 10L Spray Tank
  • IP67-rated High-Precision Radar
  • Active Obstacle Sensing and Avoidance
  • 123° FOV Wide Angle FPV Camera
  • Multi-Aircraft Control Mode
  • Advanced propulsion and control algorithms

DJI Agras MG RTK 

  • 10L Spray Tank
  • IP67-rated High-Precision Radar
  • RTK Centimetre Level Positioning
  • Active Obstacle Sensing and Avoidance
  • 123° FOV Wide Angle FPV Camera
  • Multi-Aircraft Control Mode

DJI Agras T16

  • 16L Spray Tank
  • IP67 Core Module Rating
  • RTK Centimeter Level Positioning
  • DBF Imaging Radar
  • Wide Angle FPV Camera
  • AI Engine

 

 

Crop Spraying Drones v Manual Methods

Using drones for crop spraying is a far more efficient and cost-effective process than manual methods. 

The table below shows the benefits of using a DJI Agras MG-1P, which has a 10L spray tank. The time-savings are even greater with an Agras T16, which has a larger 16L spray tank.  

 

Manual

DJI Agras MG-1P

Efficiency

7-10 acres a day

Up to 500 acres a day

Work Standardisation

Manual planning

Coordinate with the positioning system to carry out path planning and improve work efficiency.

Pesticide Type

Common pesticides

Supports special aviation chemicals, high utilisation rate, can save more than 20% of pesticides.

Control Effect

 

It is easy to leak or re-spray, and low pesticide penetration.
 
Due to the low efficiency of work, it is difficult to carry out large-area protection in a short period of time, which is not suitable for unified control.

 

 

The pesticide is sprayed uniformly and has good penetration due to the downwards wind stream from the aircraft.
 
Can carry out large-area operations in a short period of time.
 

 

Safety

Workers are very close to pesticides, which is a serious health hazard.

The worker is separated from the pesticide and does not need to access hard-to-reach areas. 

Crop inspection drones

Save money and identify problems through aerial data.

Information That Can't Be Seen With The Naked Eye

Crop inspection is a vital part of farming and a drone can be deployed to capture fast, accurate, and meaningful insights.

Drones can carry a combination of zoom, thermal, multispectral, NDVI, and visual cameras to draw precise data which cannot be seen with the naked eye, or is difficult to collect from ground level. 

This provides vital real-time insights about crop growth, differences between healthy and distressed plants, and weed control, thus enabling agricultural professionals to identify issues quickly, precisely and accurately, and to better target their field scouting.
 
Drones can be used to carry out these surveys as frequently as the job demands. This precise and repeatable multi-year drone data allows for better planning and monitoring of improvements, such as ditches and evolving fertiliser applications.
 
As an added advantage, this meaningful data can be processed instantly and can be shared quickly with key staff and decision-makers to help maximise agricultural outputs.
"Efficient control of weeds in a farming operation is critical. Knowing when and where to apply herbicide can provide significant savings, not only in preventing damage to the crop, but in minimising the amount of product that is purchased and applied. Remote sensing technology can help growers assess the effectiveness of the treatments, identify problem areas, and implement corrective actions as needed.”

MicaSense and Dynamic Wings
 

Best Drones For Crop Inspection

As the world's leading drone manufacturer, DJI has a number of solutions to help farmers collect vital insights about crop health and vegetation management.   

The Phantom 4 Multispectral is a dedicated drone for precision agriculture, enabling agricultural professionals to capture plant-level data.

The drone features a built-in imaging system comprising 1 RGB camera and a multispectral camera with five sensors covering the blue, green, red, red edge and near-infrared bands.

Users can switch between NDVI images and the live RGB feed to highlight attention areas and enable targeted treatment decisions.

The Phantom 4 Multispectral benefits from RTK accuracy, while the DJI TimeSync system allows for accurate positioning data on images captured by the cameras.

This enables farmers to make timely and informed decisions on crop treatment and health, which lowers costs, saves on resources, and helps to maximise yields.

The DJI Matrice M300 RTK is another reliable option for farmers. While not strictly an agricultural drone, the M300 RTK can be integrated with different payloads to capture key farming insights, including the H20T camera which boasts thermal and zoom capabilities. Thermal imaging has a range of applications in agriculture, such as irrigation scheduling, detecting plant disease, and estimating fruit yields, while a zoom camera can be used to hone in on specific areas. 

The DJI Matrice 300 RTK can also be integrated with third-party payloads, enabling farmers to pair the drone with dedicated and specialist NDVI and multispectral sensors. 

Meanwhile, the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Series offers a lightweight, foldable and portable option for farmers. The standard Mavic 2 Enterprise features a dynamic zoom camera, while the Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual comes with thermal capabilities. Both drones can carry modular accessories, such as a loudspeaker, spotlight, and beacon, to add versatility to agricultural missions.      

DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral

  • 5-Camera Array covering Blue, Green, Red, Red Edge and NIR (Near Infrared), plus an RGB sensor
  • Integrated Spectral Sunlight Sensor for Increased Accuracy
  • Live RGB and NDVI Feed Available from the Drone
  • Integrated RTK for 1-cm Accuracy
  • 27 Minute Flight Time
  • 7km Transmission Range

DJI M300 RTK

  • Up to 55 minute flight time.
  • IP45 weather-resistance rating.
  • Carry up to three payloads at once.
  • H20T camera, built for the M300 RTK, is a multi-sensor solution, including thermal and zoom.
  • Integrate specialist third-party multispectral and NDVI sensors. 
  • Enhanced safety features and flight redundancy.

DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Series

  • Mavic 2 Enterprise has a 12MP camera with 2x optical and 3x digital zoom capabilities.
  • Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual has thermal and standard RGB sensors.
  • Lightweight, foldable, easily transportable, and quick to deploy.
  • 24GB onboard storage
  • Omnidirectional object sensing

Multispectral Drone Data

Multispectral imaging camera sensors are playing a vital role in agriculture, especially when integrated with a drone.

This imaging technology uses a range of wavebands - including red, red-edge, and near-infrared - to highlight a wealth of meaningful agricultural insights, which in turns leads to smarter and more informed farming.   

Generally speaking, multi-spectral sensors collect light from various wavelengths that the human eye cannot distinguish. This imagery helps farmers learn more about soil productivity, plant health, estimate crop yields, and manage irrigation, among other things. 

Among the many benefits of multispectral imaging, farmers can find out about NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index); the index of plant greenness and the classic indicator of plant health. NDVI data enables agriculture professionals to learn more about canopy coverage, pest outbreaks, soil moisture, and how to optimise crop rotation. 

Farmers can also collect data from multispectral vegetation bands for a range of insights. These bands include: 

  • Green: Relates to the reflected energy in the 500-600 nm spectral band, and helps detect chlorophyll levels.
  • Red: The reflected energy in the 600-700 nm spectral band. For crops, this gives excellent contrast between plants and soil. 
  • Red-Edge: A very narrow band (700-730 nm) on the entry point to near-infrared. This band is sensitive to plant distress and provides information on chlorophyll, which is useful for crop-health analysis and plant counting.   
  • NIR (Near-Infrared): The wavelengths in the 700 nm - 1.3 µm range. It offers strong reflectance and is used to show chlorophyll levels. NIR can be used to monitor changes in crop health and productivity. 

Because multispectral imaging plays an important role in agriculture, numerous drone solutions are on the market to enable this data collection. 

The DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral is an all-in-one, out-of-the-box solution, with the ability to capture RGB and multispectral data covering the blue, green, red, red-edge, and near-infrared bands. 

Other leading solutions include the RedEdge-MX Dual Camera Imaging System, from MicaSense, providing 10 bands for advanced remote sensing and agricultural research. It can be integrated with DJI drones, such as the Inspire 2, and UAS in the Matrice 200 Series.

Meanwhile, the 4P and 4P+ sensors, from SlantRange, allow accurate data collection across six spectral bands, and can be integrated with DJI DRONES through DJI’s Payload SDK. 

agricultural mapping drones

Key Insights - Quickly.

Digitise Your Field

Drone mapping is becoming a key tool for farmers.

Digitising your field helps to maximise operational efficiency and monitor crop production, plant breeding, irrigation, and animal damage. 

Drone mapping provides better insights into crops from above, serving as the foundation for work on the ground. 

Turn images into insightful maps which can help with decision-making and can be shared quickly. 

Drone mapping also provides the chance to set pre-determined flight paths for autonomous missions and repeatable and accurate data collection. 

Drone mapping can provide the following insights:

  • Field Inspection: Identify issues with quick-to-create, high-resolution maps. 
  • Irrigation: Manage irrigation and minimise soil erosion by creating a digital surface model. This helps farmers understand irrigation variability and highlight areas at risk of erosion.
  • Field Interpretation: Analyse different vegetation index maps to identify key crop areas that need to be addressed and ensure the sustainability of new techniques.
  • Targeted Analysis: Generate comprehensive zone maps to identify how to achieve increased yields. 
  • Insurance Claims: Create maps to validate and sustain insurance claims by capturing footprints of your crop damage. 
  • Historical Analysis: Compare side-by-side maps to track a crop’s progress over time. This enables you to dig deeper into problem areas, take a closer look at patterns, and visualise how crop
    emergence and plant health played out through the entire growing season. 
"We are able to create variable rate maps to only spray certain sections of the field. We can scan a field with a drone in a matter of 30 minutes and have a complete map mapping out the health index of the whole area. The drone provides really detailed information." 

Bowles Farming Co - The Value of Drones in Agriculture, DroneDeploy

Best Drones For Farm Mapping

The DJI Phantom 4 RTK is an ideal drone for agricultural mapping.

The Phantom 4 RTK performs aerial mapping 100 times faster than manual operations, helping to scan and map target areas to identify all aspects of a field. 

Benefits of the DJI Phantom 4 RTK include:

  • Capture quality image data with one-inch 20MP CMOS sensor. The mechanical shutter makes mapping missions or regular data capture seamless, taking pictures without the risk of shutter blur. 
  • Achieve survey-grade results with greater efficiency.
  • RTK module provides real-time centimetre-level positioning data for improved absolute accuracy of image metadata.
  • TimeSync system continually aligns the flight controller, camera, and RTK module. 
  • Compatible with DJI Terra and other drone mapping software. 
 

Best Drone Farm Mapping Software

Transform Your Drone Data

Drone farm mapping software is an important part of using UAS for agriculture, turning collected data into meaningful insights. 

Drone mapping software can also be used to streamline the process of deploying a drone, by creating pre-mission flight paths for greater efficiency and automated flights. 

There are a number of leading drone farm mapping software solutions on the market. Here's a look at some of them: 

DJI Terra

DJI's 3D modelling and drone mapping software package can be used to great effect for agriculture.

  • Add waypoints to draw a polygon as target areas and flexibly adjust flight parameters as desired, and plan a mission and set desired flight parameters to cover the needs.
  • DJI Terra collects imagery of target areas and stitches them into actionable maps in real-time.
  • Simplified workflow: The marking of boundaries, obstacles, and calibration points are all done on the DJI Terra interface.
  • Process multispectral images to generate vegetation index maps including NDVI and NDRE. Create prescription maps for variable rate application using DJI’s Agras drones to improve crop yields while driving down costs.

Pix4D

 

Pix4Dfields is an advanced agriculture mapping software for aerial crop analysis and digital farming. 
  • Create maps rapidly (no internet connection required) for faster decision making and action, without leaving the field. 
  • Eliminate the guesswork by generating precise orthomosaics, digital surface models, index maps, zones and accurate prescription maps.
  • Use the Pix4Dcapture app to easily plan and control drone flight for optimal mapping.
  • Share your maps with all project stakeholders for seamless collaboration using Pix4Dfields PDF report tool.

DroneDeploy

The DroneDeploy software package offers agriculture intelligence to enhance year-round management decisions.

  • User-Friendly Software: Fly 160 acres in less than 15 minutes.
  • Spot variability and gather field intelligence with multi-spectral data processing.
  • Get real-time insights field-side with Live Map to generate variable rate prescriptions using in-season crop health imagery, and support a more productive scouting program.
  • Understand yield threats before setting foot in your fields.
 

smart agriculture with dji

Harness The DJI Ecosystem For A Complete Farming Solution.

From Planning To Operation - All With Drones

DJI has launched a complete farming solution, from planning to operation, conducted entirely from drones and associated software. 

This comprehensive package makes agricultural practices more efficient by combining a range of drones, such as the DJI Agras series, the DJI Phantom 4 RTK, and the DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral.

DJI Terra - a drone mapping software package - can also be utilised in this DJI farming ecosystem to produce agricultural maps from the collected drone data and generate targeted flight paths. 

The information below shows how multiple DJI platforms can be brought together to provide an end-to-end precision agriculture package. 

3D Flight Path Planning

Navigating challenging terrain is now easier, thanks to digitised farming methods. 

The DJI Phantom 4 RTK can scan and map target areas to identify all aspects of a field and DJI Terra can process this data to create maps and reconstructions for a range of agricultural insights. This information can then be used to deploy the DJI Agras T16 to specific areas.  

In Orchard mode, DJI Agras drones can identify each tree, generate 3D flight routes based on their shapes, and conduct efficient spraying.

STEP ONE
 
Data Acquisition - Phantom 4 RTK
 
Centimetre-level positioning
High-precision data collection
Fast, efficient mapping
STEP TWO

Planning - DJI Terra
 
Real-time mapping
2D/3D reconstructions
AI-generated flight paths
STEP THREE
 
Operation - DJI Agras T16

Spray up to 10 hectares an hour
Spraying method is precise
Easily cover tough terrain

Crop Protection

The DJI eco-system can be harnessed to provide a comprehensive solution to monitor crop health and generate treatment procedures.

The Phantom 4 Multispectral can scan target areas and generate multispectral charts that provide actionable insights into crop health and help formulate variable spraying and seeding maps.

Users can access DJI Terra shapefiles and apply them to spraying and seeding operations, carried out by Agras drones.

STEP ONE
 
Data Acquisition - Phantom 4 Multispectral
 
Centimetre-level positioning
Data collection through multispectral sensors
47-ha imagery collection in a single flight
STEP TWO
 
Field Planning - DJI Terra
 
Real-Time NDVI Mapping
Agricultural Shapefiles
AI Field Planning
STEP THREE
 
Operation - DJI Agras Drones

Spray fertilisers/pesticides quickly and precisely
Cover a large area during each flight
Easily cover tough terrain

drones for agriculture case studies

Real-world stories highlighting the benefits of deploying UAS for farming.

Drones more efficient over steep terrain

DJI Agras drones are being deployed for vineyard management.  Thanks to their automated operation and ability to access hard-to-reach areas, these drones have made vineyard spraying an easy and visible workflow.
 
Remote Vision is one company deploying DJI Agras drones for vineyard management, flying the MG-1P and T16 in Switzerland.
 
Tasked with preventing disease, the Agras drones are filled with a range of chemicals to protect the vines from the spread of powdery mildew and other fungal diseases.
 
The Agras drones can spray 100 litres per hectare and are able to target steep hills which are difficult to access by using a tractor.
 
Ueli Sager, from Remote Vision, said: "The client has compared drone spraying with earlier tractor spraying. The client is happy with drone spraying for a number of reasons, including no personal contact with pesticides, there is no phytotoxicity, and the DJI Agras is much more efficient over steep terrain." 
Drones effective for monitoring trial plot sites
 
Drone AG has been using the DJI Mavic 2 drone, along with drone software packages Pix4Dfields, DroneDeploy, and Skippy Scout, to conduct wheat monitoring.
 
Jack Wrangham, of Drone AG, said: "Drones can be very effective for monitoring trial plot sites. This is because they can fly low to the crop, getting a high level of detail. Satellite imagery is simply not high enough resolution to see individual plots."
 
DroneAG used the drone to collect super high-resolution imagery of the plots. The team mapped the plots and flew over the sites at four key times throughout the season to identify early establishment, later crop progress, and possible disease detection.
 
This regular and precise data capture enabled DroneAG to identify progress and issues, and collect accurate comparisons.
 
DroneAG used its Skippy Scout software to automate drone flights to capture images close to the crop, with leaf-level detail. This is useful for trials plots, to see what is happening to individual plants.
The drone helped increase profits

Nutrien used DJI drones and solutions from SlantRange to improve a client's strawberry season.
 
The primary aim was to evaluate the crop for nutrient solutions, addressing crop issues as soon as possible and helping the grower realise the best yield possible.
 
During the process, Nutrien found that a drone was useful for a number of aspects, including precision and speed. Individual leaves on plants became visible using the drone solution, helping to identify pest issues, and resulting in quick preventative measures, while the ability to view data in the field, minutes after flying, was a huge advantage.
 
By the end of the season, profits had been increased and yields were improved.
Drones allow precise mapping

The Rogers Family Coffee Co. is using drones to create new management methods on their research farm in Kona, Hawaii. 
 
Using DJI drones integrated with MicaSense sensors, the company is using vegetation indexes to allow them to track nutrient inputs, identify pest infestations, and visualise mountainous terrain.
 
Andros Bracamontes, Research & Development Specialist for the Rogers Family Co, said: "Drones are allowing us to precisely map the entire farm on a regular basis and we are now aligning the imagery with our management strategy. We used to have to hike around to monitor the fields, which can be a major challenge in the steep slopes of some of our farms. Now we can monitor by air in a fraction of the time and at an individual plant level.’’

drones versus satellites for farming

Which method is best for agriculture?

Which Eye In The Sky Should You Use?

Drones are more efficient and more effective for farming than manual methods. But how do they compare to satellites?  

In truth, both have their advantages, and come down to the specific application. 

However, there are certain times when drones have the advantage. 

Take cloud cover, for example. Satellite imagery can be severely affected by cloud cover, limiting what can be seen. A drone, on the other hand, can fly closer to the earth, below the cover of cloud, to obtain the data you need. 

There's also the issue of satellites flying around the earth within a certain time. If you want immediate data capture, it can be best to deploy a drone.  

Because drones can fly closer to the ground, they can collect extremely precise data, taking shots to distinguish a weed or a crop, or show each particular plant. Because of its distance from the earth, a satellite can't capture that level of detail. 

However, if high-precision is not a priority, then satellites can have the advantage, especially over big farms where they can cover a larger area. 

Thanks to their wide scope, the collected image is complete, eliminating the need for image stitching. In contrast, because drone shots capture smaller areas, image stitching is needed following drone flights. 

Another advantage of using satellites is that their records go further back. Thanks to this archive data, you can time travel and build a longer picture of your farm.  

But, while the drones versus satellite question is valid, it doesn't always have to be a choice between the two.  Rather, using them together can be extremely useful, spotting an initial problem through a satellite and then deploying a drone to hone in on the issue and tackle it precisely and quickly.    

Introducing Skippy scout

Drone crop monitoring app.

Evaluate Crops - Quickly and Efficiently

To help promote drones for agriculture, Heliguy has partnered with UAS farming company, DroneAG.

UK-based Drone AG has created Skippy Scout, an award-winning real-time crop monitoring tool designed to make farmers’ lives easier by saving time, increasing efficiency and providing accurate results. 

This crop monitoring app uses drones to automatically capture images which are analysed by ground-breaking artificial intelligence (AI) to offer arable farmers vital broadacre crop insight.
 
The phone-based app uses GPS and mapping software to autonomously fly a drone to points in a field selected by the farmer. The images taken by the drone are interpreted by the app to provide an accurate green area index (GAI) and count emerging plants. The quality of image  collected can also identify weeds and is accurate enough to capture insect damage on a  single leaf.
 
Jack Wrangham, of DroneAG, said: “Farmers have always walked their crops. However, the time to do this in the  traditional way is diminishing.

“As farm sizes increase and labour units per hectare decline, the risk of losing crops because a problem has not been identified quickly enough will increase. Skippy Scout offers every farmer the chance to see and evaluate crops easily and efficiently using just a phone and a drone."

Skippy Scout can be integrated with a range of DJI drones, including the Mavic Mini.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Farming drones - your questions, answered

Why should I use a drone for farming?

Drones are helping to revolutionise agriculture by providing farmers with fast, accurate, and repeatable data collection, which in turn provides vital insights and helps drive decision-making. 

What is the best drone for agriculture?

This depends on your needs. But DJI has a range of UAS in its agriculture ecosystem, such as the Agras crop-spraying drones; P4 Multispectral crop-monitoring drone; and the Phantom 4 RTK farm mapping drone.

Do I need drone training to fly on my farm?

If you are flying your drone for commercial reasons, then yes, you will need to undergo drone training. From the end of December 2020 in the UK, training requirements will change; determined more by the size of your drone, rather than being defined by commercial or non-commercial operations. For more information about drone training, click here. 

In the U.S., drone operators flying commercially will need to pass the FAA Part 107 test.
Do I need to register my farming drone?
If you are in the UK, then yes, your drone will need to be registered if it is over 250 grams. For more details, click here. 
 
If you in the U.S., your drone will need to be registered if it is over 0.55lbs. For more details, click here.
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