By Robin Tarnowetzki
Journal Staff Writer
Drones aren't just for the military anymore; they're being used more and more in agriculture and Humboldt farmers now have access to an entire kit through Farm World.
A drone, or unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV), is a small machine that can fly on a preset route, and is commonly heard
A drone kit includes the drone, a live view monitor to see what the drones see, two cameras (one normal and one infrared), a controller to fly the drone manually, six batteries, and a laptop with all the appropriate software. All this equipment will set a farmer back $20,000, though there are cheaper options.
Drones allow for a much more precise and accurate look at a crop that will save the farmer from having to physically walk the fields. They can show whether a plant is sick before it's visible to the naked eye and show where there are problem areas with regards to weeds and pests, allowing the farmer to use fewer resources to fix the problem. Using fewer resources equals lower cost to the farmer and less impact on the environment.
"It won't replace workers," said Blair Fleischhacker, corporate parts manager for Farm World. "What it will do is give the farmer more information than what he's got today. It'll change what the worker does instead of going out and walking the fields, they'll now be interpreting the data that comes out of the drones. It will change what their role is."
In addition, drones can be used to monitor animals as well and detect whether or not they're getting sick since a sick animal will have a slightly higher temperature that is detectable with infrared.
It's not the first time farmers have tried to monitor crops from above. Some already use satellite imagery, but that data can be up to two weeks old and a lot can change in that time. Farmers can use aircraft, but that gets costly.
Fleischhacker said that despite being new, the drones are quite popular, especially with the younger farming demographic.
"There's been a lot of buzz with them," he said. "It's a really new thing. There's been a lot of ground to break, as with any new product."
Farm World is supplied with drones from Precision Drone LLC, which is based out of Indiana. The company began when a group of farmers were looking for a way to monitor their fields with more accuracy and ended up designing their own drone.
Fleischhacker said there are no disadvantages to using a drone. It's difficult to put a number on the lifespan, but he said that if something in the drone breaks, it's easy to get replacement parts.
Transport Canada regulates the usage of drones to ensure everyone's safety. Anyone wanting to use a drone must complete an application for a special flight operations certificate and include what the drone will be used for, a complete description of the aircraft, an emergency plan, the boundaries of the area where the drone will be flown, and the routes the drone will travel, among others.
