Started as a company in 2017, ROGA Drone is one of the new players in the UAV market, and Don Campbell believes there’s an untapped market in Western Canada for UAVs to spray insecticide. His flight plan? The Kray drone.

The Kray drone is a fixed wing UAV using eight rotors to keep it airborne, flying more than 100 km/h with the help of a front propeller. With a five-metre boom (about sixteen-and-a-half feet), it can carry up to 15 kg (33 lbs) of product, delivering insecticide at an ultra-low volume, ideally, about three feet above the crop canopy on an autonomous flight path.

While 2018 will mostly involve field trials and testing of pesticide and fungicide spraying, Campbell believes the targeted, spot-spray approach can be a valuable tool for farmers looking to spray where traditional equipment may find it difficult.

The post VIDEO: Boldly spraying where no one’s sprayed before? appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The new Transport Canada rules released March 16 limit recreational drones between 250 grams and 35 kilograms to within 90 metres of the ground, at least 75 metres away from structures, people or vehicles, to daylight hours only and at least nine kilometres away from any “aerodrome.” That’s defined as “airports, heliports and seaplane bases or anywhere that aircraft take off and land,” which includes small airports in rural areas.

The new rules do not affect agricultural drone use, which is classified as commercial or research, but those regulations have also changed in the last two years. The weight exemption threshold, previously set at two kilograms, has since been eliminated to include lighter drones.

Transport Canada says anyone operating a drone for agricultural use must have a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) or meet 61 exemption requirements, including flying at least five nautical miles away from the centre of an aero­drome, three nautical miles from the centre of a heliport, not flying in known icing conditions or over 300 feet above ground level and performing a site survey prior to launch.

Matt Johnson of M3 Aerial Productions, which offers agricultural drone services and training, says completing a ground school is required for commercial flight, regardless of other exemption criteria.

“They still need to take the course, the training course, and they still need to co-ordinate and communicate with NAV Canada at least to set up their initial flight,” Johnson said. “If they’re going to fly their same field 10 times in a season, they have to co-ordinate with Transport Canada at least once to let them know that they’re going to be operating in that area and see if it’s OK to get standing approval for the rest of the season without having to get an SFOC.”

Extensive training

Pam Wilson, an ACC agribusiness faculty member, says students are first learning about drone use and regulations before making their first flight. She has been working for the past year to complete her own ground school and SFOC application.

“There’s things like weather patterns and I have to basically know as much as a pilot would have to know before they fly a plane, because there’s a lot of different airspace you can fly in.”

Wilson said regulation has especially affected agriculture, as work and home are often on the same parcel of land, blurring the line between commercial and recreational use.

“If you were a farmer who was just like, ‘Oh, I want to see what a picture of my crop looks like,’ that’s not really (recreational use) either, because you could use that to make some business decisions. So that is now research and it’s actually becoming part of work.”

Significant investment

Johnson said that on top of the ground school cost of about $550, at least $100,000 of aviation liability insurance is required, which also costs about $550. An Industry Canada radio use certification is also often required for an SFOC.

A drone may cost well over $1,000, while specialized infrared lenses and sensors will each run in the thousands of dollars.

“When we’re talking about drone packages, it’s never just the cost of the drone, which is like $1,500. It’s the drone plus the batteries, because if you only have one battery or two batteries, it’s very limiting in what you can do and probably very frustrating to the farmer,” Johnson said.

His ground school course includes 16 class hours, plus about 15 hours of online components. It’s been held in Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Brandon since November 2016. He plans to hold courses in Guelph and another in Winnipeg before his own peak flying season begins in summer.

The SFOC application itself includes a description of how, when and where an operator will fly their drone and a detailed safety-management plan. A restricted operator SFOC may be valid for a year, while proven operators may apply for a three-year SFOC. Transport Canada aims to process SFOC requests within 20 working days.

DIY may not pay

Little Morden Service near Morden, Man., was among the businesses to offer do-it-yourself agricultural drone technology. In 2015, it launched a drone and software package worth $8,000 using a quadcopter with infrared lens to track healthy growth in the field.

“The program that we offered never really took off,” sales representative Norman Friesen said. “I guess in our area we’re not quite there yet. The farm sizes were just a bit too small. They were getting that information from, I guess, third-party companies.”

Customers often expressed concern over flying regulations such as distance from airports and line-of-sight requirements, he said.

“With the regulations and everything, it’s not worth it,” Wilson said. “Keep it as a toy. I think there’s enough guys out there who do this for a living that paying them to do it might cost more, but then they assume the liability.”

Despite having to curb her own drone work, ACC’s Wilson acknowledged the need for regulation.

“I’ve heard so many stupid stories of people doing just ridiculous things with drones, so I do understand why they’ve tightened this stuff up.”

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The soundless video showed crystal-clear footage taken from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), also called a drone.

Two decades previously, my family received a knock on the door of our farmhouse in central Illinois. Our visitor had, for our purchase, an aerial view of our farmstead. That photo proudly hung centre stage in the kitchen during our decade tenure on this farm.

Reflecting back on that static, almost-in-focus shot of our home while watching the video of farmland and facilities using today’s technology was like listening to the chirp of multiple auto start remotes at the end of the work day while remembering our traditional method of sending one of the kids out to start the truck on a cold winter day. That UAV technology is here is not news. Nor is the potential of this technology for our personal lives, businesses, farms and ranches, and to improve monitoring and sampling capabilities for researchers, public entities and others. In agriculture, a multitude of uses have been identified and are being applied or undergoing empirical research.

It is said that most agricultural applications for UAVs will fall under the realm of precision agriculture or safety. Throughout the popular literature, we find references to the role of UAVs in achieving tasks that best fall under one or more of the four Ds: dirty, dangerous, difficult or dull. One might more specifically define many of the direct applications to agriculture as falling under the categories of improving the efficiency of tasks that ordinarily place high demands on time and making possible those that improve the efficiency of the use of our resources, thereby also reducing costs.

Examples of the use of UAV direct visuals in precision agriculture include evaluating planting success, crop scouting, and locating and counting livestock. The use of thermal imaging and other technologies also can help producers predict yield, follow crop growth, identify weeds, and provide early warning of animal illness, heat detection and timing of calving. In addition, UAVs have been used to support and promote value-added services for such ventures as agricultural tourism. The list of applications will only grow.

While the evolution of this technology and its application is fascinating to follow, the question facing many farmers and ranchers is whether they should use the technology and, if so, how to begin.

As an economist, the easy answer is that the adoption decision should be made based on the expected return on investment. What is important is that the estimated return on investment be based on its value, not in generating data, but in facilitating management decisions that improve the efficiency and profitability of the operation or otherwise help producers meet their goals. While those goals are not all cost and revenue oriented, certainly these are top-of-mind considerations for the farmers and ranchers of today.

When talking to producers about the decision, two general arguments arise. The first is that now is not a good time to invest in the technology because its value in increasing revenues per dollar spent is diminished by low commodity prices. The more common argument is that now is a good time to consider the technology because low commodity prices require that producers find more operation efficiencies, such as those this technology can help provide.

Assuming the second argument is correct, or to test whether it is correct, we advise approaching the decision like any other farm investment decision, from hiring a crop-scouting service to purchasing new equipment.

The first step is to identify the need, that is, the problem. If the UAV is to provide additional or more detailed information, that information is of value to you (fills a need) if it improves your ability to make decisions.

Coming up with examples of need is not difficult: Does the emergence rate justify replanting the field? Am I applying too much herbicide or applying the right amount of nitrogen throughout the field? Can I do without my retiring cattle hand if I can find a means to otherwise track and manage my cattle?

The second step is to identify alternative solutions and compare their ability to help you make your operation more efficient.

You also will need to decide whether to purchase or lease a UAV. The choice will depend on the net purchase cost, operation and maintenance costs, the kit of tools you need to meet your goals, and data analysis. Once you know what owning a system will cost, you can compare that to leased systems, with or without full-service, in-flight data analysis.

For those who want to solve problems that do not require longer-term monitoring, such as identifying drainage structural issues or determining locations for crop scouting, renting a UAV service may be the right option.

This option avoids the cost associated with obtaining the regulatory certification required for commercial use.

Many UAV models are available, and more are being introduced commercially, including fixed wing, helicopter, and multi-copter, and battery and fuel operated. The key features are price, coverage range, flight time, weight capacity and multi-use ability.

Other features that may be important, depending on your intended use, including auto drive and the ability to override it in favour of manual operation, crash avoidance and return-to-home features, the ability to view imagery during flight, thermal imaging, hyperspectral and LIDAR (light detection and ranging) capability, camera zoom and software capability. Some potential UAV purchasers will be comfortable relying on a trusted sales professional, while others will prefer to conduct research or rely on other traditional information sources for vendor and capability comparisons.

The post Is a drone right for your farm? appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The push comes as cutting-edge machinery is used to plug a labour shortage on the nation’s remote farms that threatens to derail its ambitions to become Asia’s food bowl.

“For the first time in many years, we’re finding it easier to attract graduates because agriculture, particularly technology in agriculture, is back on the radar,” said Felicity Hennessy, general manager of innovation at agribusiness Ruralco.

For years, potential recruits to Australian agriculture have been turned off by the harsh image of traditional farming, but a marked acceleration towards automation has piqued the interest of young generations, with jobs available to do everything from developing crop-protecting drones to crunching data on cattle nutrition.

“The proliferation of drones and sensors are the key drivers,” said Hennessy, adding that Ruralco’s graduate program had seen a rise in the number and quality of applicants.

While Australia is among the world’s leaders in robotics for outdoor use, having given birth to the first robot to round up cattle, the A$4-billion agriculture technology industry is still in its infancy. It is mainly just a few companies that are big enough to recruit.

The nation’s largest cattle firm Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) is one of the local firms in the sector that has regularly been hiring tech-savvy youngsters.

“Interest in agriculture is rising, from engineers to science-type graduates,” said Gerard Davis, who heads a team of seven in an innovation department at AACo that started under three years ago.

Data from Rimfire Resources, a recruiting firm specialized in farming, showed 4,600 agricultural jobs were advertised on the Internet in 2016, from an average of 3,750 in the past three years.

“It is difficult to say whether the increase is driven by technology, but there is a clear shift for off-the-farm roles,” said Nigel Crawley, a director at Rimfire Resources.

Down on the farm

New degrees such as agri-sciences are being added by universities, with a sharp rise in students who do not have a farming background.

City-born engineering student Michael Forrai had never set foot on a farm, but as part of his studies is now testing weed-spraying functions on robots in wheat fields near Emerald, a remote town in the state of Queensland.

“I had never heard of Emerald before and really would have never expected to work on a farm,” said the 30-year-old student from the University of Sydney. “Now, I see it as an amazing opportunity… I am definitely considering staying in agricultural robotics.”

But competition is stiff for agricultural companies looking to recruit engineers or tech graduates.

“We have to be looking all the time,” said Matt Pryor, the founder of water and livestock sensors maker Observant, citing companies in aerospace, automotive, finance, health care and e-commerce vying for the candidates.

Observant provides web-based software to allow farmers to check water levels remotely. The system collects data from soil moisture sensors, weather stations and cameras.

The 13-year-old company employs a staff of 12, having added three technicians last year.

“We changed our mindset from being position focused to talent focused and that can be tough because you may take somebody before the business is ready,” said Pryor.

“In a competitive market, you have to be at market price or above,” he said, declining to give more details.

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From satellite imagery and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) to smartphone apps, there are plenty of tools out there. Just don’t expect them to replace boots on the ground any time soon.

The limitation of current remote-sensing technology, such as satellite and aerial imagery, is that it can only detect variability in the field. The cause of that variability still has to be ground truthed using traditional scouting methods such as visual inspections, soil and tissue samples, and still relies heavily on the wisdom and experience of the person doing the scouting.

“The challenge isn’t collecting the data but the interpretation,” said Dr. Ignacio Ciampitti, crop production specialist with Kansas State University during his presentation to the Manitoba Agronomists Conference (MAC) in Winnipeg last week. “We are not removed from the system. All these technologies are tools, but we need people, they are the thinkers who will go back to the field and decide where the problem is coming from.”

Ciampitti showed images of a winter wheat field from a drone flown at low altitude to give a reasonably high-resolution image and create a normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) map that showed weeds growing outside the rows. “But we can’t identify the weed species – it will need a person to go out in the field to do that,” says Ciampitti.

One of the biggest problems farmers face today is that they have too much information, added Ciampitti.

“We have a responsibility to simplify and integrate the data, and develop that into tools so advisors and farmers can start taking action,” he said.

UAVs are a relatively new technology in agriculture, and because they can fly at low altitudes, they can provide a much higher-resolution image of an area of concern in the field than a satellite can, which is why they are so useful to researchers, who are assessing many potential uses for the technology. Research is being conducted into using UAVs for weed identification, yield estimates, measuring herbicide drift, detecting plant height and crop uniformity, measuring canopy temperature and making replanting decisions, as well as detecting crop stress and pests.

As more of the information that UAVs collect is integrated with the information coming from other sources, such as traditional scouting, soil data, pest-detection networks and forecast maps and provincial databases of insects, weeds and diseases, they will become a better diagnostic tool for producers.

Center Field Solutions, an Alberta company, does a lot of on-farm research using various technologies like yield mapping, and UAVs.

“Our clients are good scouts too,” said Kelly Boles, owner and president of the company, in a panel discussion at MAC.

“They know the history of their fields, they have the expertise, and we are trying to channel a strategy, and work with them and industry to come up with really good solutions in-field,” said Boles, who added the biggest challenge is processing and analysing the huge amount of data they collect to provide an outcome for their clients.

Real-time agronomy

Boles said he believes the most important technological advancement in scouting is connectivity in the field via mobile devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets. “To be able to document and use apps in the field in real time is huge and it’s sped things up for us,” he said. “We can tweet or Google a picture and it’s amazing how quick the interaction is. It’s pretty exciting how we can evolve these tools.”

More and more agronomists are going paperless, using mobile devices to take scouting pictures and correlate zone maps and soil and tissue sample data using apps to create reports for their clients about crop seeding, fertility and spraying decisions.

CropPro Consulting in Saskatchewan has six trucks on the road with specialized mapping equipment including computers, autosteer and a battery powered, in-field soil sampling unit, which uses GPS positioning and an automatic probe to collect soil samples. “We are fully connected in the sense that our agronomists can use our app in the field on any mobile device to do recommendations and scouting,” says Cory Willness, CropPro president. “Within each field we have maps of everything that farmers can load up on their Smartphone – electrical conductivity maps, elevation, flow accumulations, drainage files, anything they want.”

Around 60 per cent of agronomists and close to 50 per cent of Ontario producers are using apps to make management decisions on their farms according to an Ontario-based survey. It’s likely many them are using Pest Manager – a free app launched in 2015 with funding provided by the Grain Farmers of Ontario. Pest Manager helps producers identify weeds, insects and diseases right in the field, and suggests options to manage or control them. Ontario provincial weed specialist, Mike Cowbrough demonstrated the app’s key features to agronomists and advisors attending MAC, including the interactive pest identification key. Users filter according to crop type and choose from menus of different taxonomic traits about the pest or weed species – or the symptoms of diseases – that they are looking at in their field. The app identifies it and offers a menu of control options that can also be filtered by different variables i.e. crop system (GMO, non-GMO or organic), application timing, crop stage and the presence of herbicide-resistant weeds. It contains economic thresholds and also offers information about natural enemies of problem pests that may be present. Pest Manager also has an extensive pest library with Frequently asked questions, which is its most used feature. The app is updated in real time with the latest information about new products or emerging pest issues.

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Enns Brothers joins Saskatchewan-based Western Sales in linking up with Green Aero Tech last month. Green Aero Tech was founded in 2012 in the Red River Valley and today works across Western Canada.

“We’re not drones for the sake of drones,” said Scott Hiebert, CEO of Green Aero Tech. “We tailor our services to the client.”

Hiebert says the service will collect accurate data and work with the dealerships to deliver that information to customers. That includes information like elevation reports related to drainage, multi-spectral imaging for crop stress management, and thermal imaging for research purposes. They’re also working on a special interface for John Deere dealerships to allow the data to interface with existing software.

“Working with Green Aero Tech means we’re capable of delivering solutions to our entire trade area,” said Mitch Rezansoff, Integrated Solutions manager at Enns Brothers. “They’re a trusted extension of our team, putting the latest in drone technology right at our fingertips.”

For Green Aero Tech this deal gives them access to the customer bases of two of Canada’s largest John Deere dealerships.

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It’s recently begun investigating the addition of drone imagery to predict the optimum window to harvest alfalfa.

“We are continuing to grow our Green Gold program in all ways possible,” said John McGregor, MFGA’s hay expert and Green Gold program manager. “We’ve been providing the Green Gold program for more than 20 years and have a solid base of producers that relies upon our information to first cut their alfalfa crops when the Relative Feed Value (RFV) is at the highest percentages, which means higher-quality feed for livestock.”

The Green Gold program is currently based around clipping samples that are taken every Monday and Thursday and tested at Central Testing Laboratories to determine the RFV.

MFGA aims to pinpoint the ideal RFV of 150. This year ‘hay day’ was calculated to be May 30, where it was estimated that alfalfa reached an RFV of 170.

Regional results are emailed to subscribers twice a week and currently more than 500 industry members in Manitoba receive these updates.

Duncan Morrison, MFGA executive director, says this year the organization has taken steps to add further value to the prediction system by enhancing the program with some newly emerged technology.

“This is an opportunity to complement our existing program with some new technology that may give us more insight into the best cutting time,” Morrison said. “We can’t and wouldn’t want to replace the central testing component. That is the backbone of this program. Our goal is simply looking at adding this new technology to make the program stronger so that alfalfa producers can use this tool and get the best bang for their buck.”

MFGA has partnered with M3 Aerial Productions to explore the addition of a data from drone imagery.

“There are valuable applications for UAVs in the agriculture industry,” said Matthew Johnson, owner of M3 Aerial Productions. “This technology can help farmers to grow better crops and save money in the process. With the Alfalfa Green Gold project, these drone images are being collected to provide an extra layer of support in helping identify when the perfect time to cut is.”

The partnership between MFGA and M3 Aerial will allow clippings to be cross-referenced with NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) data for any possible correlations.

In the initial year of the partnership, M3 Aerial has focused on gathering data from an alfalfa field near New Bothwell, Man., flying on the same day clippings are gathered.

“We are currently looking at a couple of fields in southern Manitoba with this program and will look to expand to the other growing regions of Manitoba next year,” Johnson said. “This year we have simply been conducting flights on the same day the clippings are being made but have yet to start correlating the data. Once we examine the data we will really be able to determine how much value this will add to the program.”

M3 Aerial has been using its five-foot-wide, fixed-wing AgEagle RX60 UAV, which is capable of mapping a section of farmland in about an hour.

Over the off-season the two organizations will confer over the results to determine the best route forward in synchronizing the data in order to provide the best information for Manitoba alfalfa producers.

“It looks like there is a strong harmony between the eye in the sky and the boots on the ground, and we are excited to examine that relationship further to see if there could be an added benefit to having this additional data,” Morrison said.

Click here for video of the M3 Green Gold Alfalfa flight from May 29. For more information on the Green Gold program visit the MFGA website.

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Drone licensing has become a hot ticket item in recent months because of the growing recreational interest in flying the units, said Natasha Gauthier, a spokeswoman for Transport Canada. Last summer, the department launched a review of its UAV operating regulations and is expected to release them sometime during 2016. They will be included in the Canada Gazette for consultation with stakeholders and the public.

Unless you’re flying for fun, as model airplane enthusiasts do, you’ll need a Special Flight Operations Certificate from Transport Canada, advises Gauthier in an interview. “We decide on them on a case-by-case basis. Our inspectors will go through their applications and check out their experience operating the units.”

The certificates “can include restrictions and requirements such as maximum allowed altitude, communications with air traffic control, and minimum required distances from aerodromes, people, and buildings. Each certificate issued contains specific terms on what the operator is allowed to do.” UAVs will have to display specified markings and registration information.

The main aim is to ensure a prospective drone operator won’t turn the device into an airborne risk for other aircraft or people on the ground.

“It’s all a question of how and where you use the UAV,” Gauthier added. “The new regulations will spell that out.”

Craft under 25 kilograms in weight will be under fairly simple rules, she said. They’re considered to be low risk.

Bigger machines, which can carry a payload, will face more complicated licensing for safety reasons. That will include staying away from people, buildings and other structures.

“The department has already reached out to the manufacturers to encourage them to educate their customers on proper operation,” she said. “We tell them to direct people to our website, which has a lot of information on the safe operation of UAVs.”

The law already provides for fines and jail terms for reckless and negligent manner that could cause property damage or bodily harm, the department says. “Flying a UAV near other aircraft is extremely dangerous. Anyone who violates controlled or restricted airspace and endangers the safety of airplanes could face fines of up to $25,000 and/or prison. This applies to any size of UAV used for any purpose. All UAV pilots must also stay away from forest fires and not interfere with the work of first responders.”

An operator who requires an SFOC and flies a UAV without one, the department can issue fines up to $5,000 for an individual and $25,000 for a business.

The current rules require drones to be flown at least nine kms away from airports, no higher than 90 metres above the ground and at least 150 metres away from people, buildings and vehicles.

In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration requires drone owners to register their devices or risk a US$27,500 fine.A Special Flight Operations Certificate from Transport Canada will now be required when flying a drone.

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“KAP would like dialogue before they (Transport Canada) make regulations,” Mazier said in an interview Sept. 3. “If they are going to put a certain regulation in at least consult farm groups or farmers and ask how they can work with it.

“This is supposed to be another tool for farmers. If they make it too onerous to get a licence or to use it they just won’t do it and there will be a lost technology that we just won’t be able to access because it’s just too much hassle.”

That’a the message KAP delivered in a submission, including nine recommendations, to the Canadian Aviation Regulations Advisory Council (CARAC) last month. The council, a joint effort of Transport Canada and the Canadian aviation industry, consults with the public on aviation regulations.

In 2016 Transport Canada says it will amend regulatory requirements for UAVs 25 kgs or less that are operated within visual line of sight. The changes are to ensure the safe operation of UAVs in Canada and will:

• Establish classifications, including a proposal for the possibility of having a very small (lower threshold) category of aircraft.
• Clarify terminology.
• Establish aircraft marking and registration requirements.
• Address personnel licensing and training.
• Create flight rules.

Transport Canada also says it will preserve the Special Flight Operating Certificate (SFOC) process for higher-risk operations, including UAVs larger than 25 kgs and those operated beyond visual line of sight.

Transport Canada is also proposing pilots flying small UAVs engaged in complex operations be properly trained and required to obtain a pilot permit by taking a test.

Thanks to lower prices and improved technology UAV use has taken off. In 2014 Transport Canada says it issued 1,672 SPOCs compared to 345 in 2012. That’s almost a fivefold increase over two years.

UAVs are increasingly popular among farmers and those working for them. They are a fast and efficient way to check crops and livestock.

To accommodate their growth in November 2014 Transport Canada adopted an interim strategy issuing two exemptions to the SFOC requirements and guidance material for lower-risk UAVs operating within specific conditions and weighing 25 kgs or less. Users operating a UAV weighing more than 25 kgs, or operating in higher-risk environments, still must apply for an SFOC. The exemptions are valid until December 2016.

KAP says the new regulations need to be flexible and reflect the risk, Mazier said. Tighter regulations make sense close to large urban areas where air space is busier and there are more people and buildings. But less oversight is needed in rural areas with lower populations and less congested skies, he said.

KAP made the following recommendations:

1. Create regulations that ensure safety while still allowing for functionality.
2. Utilize different categories of operational requirements based on use and risk.
3. Be specific about geographic limitations outlined in operational requirements.
4. Adapt UAV Operator Certificate Requirements to accommodate farmers and farm businesses.
5. Develop exemptions for farmers who wish to use UAVs in close proximity to limited use aerodromes while still fulfilling the operational requirements of small UAVs (Limited Operations).
6. Include no requirement for farmers to obtain an SFOC if they meet the UAV Operator Certificate Requirements for the UAV they intend to use.
7. Develop a system of informing farmers about operating requirements.
8. Develop a partnership between general farm organizations, Transport Canada and other stakeholders to create educational tools for delivering UAV information to farmers.
9. Increase awareness around the use of UAVs and the regulatory requirements.

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“As far as data collection, these are really useful. We are figuring that we can make use of them for a number of things, including determining crop health and monitoring maturity,” said Jeffery Kostuik, diversification specialist with Parkland Crop Diversification Foundation.

Kostuik demonstrated his SenseFly eBee fixed-wing drone at the Westman Agriculture Diversification Organization’s (WADO) field day in Melita on July 21.

The eBee drone has been said to be one of the easiest-to-use mini drone on the market. It is controlled through eMotion, a flight-planning software.

“The computer does all the work. You set your flight plan of where you want your drone to fly, it does a series of passes and at the same time it is taking pictures and recordings,” said Kostuik.

Throughout flight, the drone captures a number of photos, which are then processed on the connected computer through the supplied Postflight Terra 3D professional photogrammetry software.

Drones present aerial snapshots allowing producers to pinpoint areas of concern in fields caused by weather, pests, nutrient deficiencies and spray drifts. Cattle producers are able to check calves without disturbing the entire herd.

“I am looking forward to using this as flying will give us a different perspective,” said Scott Chalmers, diversification specialist with WADO. “I will be using it for measuring plot length, the biomass index, and elevation mapping, which will allow me to map this entire quarter and know where it is going to drown out or where we are going to have a tough time getting water and that will help us with planning plots.”

The eBee drone can cover up to 12 sq. km in a single flight with a nominal cruise speed of 40 to 90 km an hour. It weighs less than a kilogram with a wingspan of 38 inches and a rear-mounted propeller.

“This will cover about a quarter section in around nine minutes. It has the capability of flying to 2,000 feet and can fly for about 40 to 45 minutes. However, 400 feet is the highest we are legally able to fly for safety reasons,” said Kostuik.

Kostuik also noted that drone operators are required to obtain a Special Flight Operator Certificate through Transport Canada. This can take anywhere from 10 to 20 business days and can require the operator to obtain liability insurance.

Operators must also inform others in the area that may be sharing the air space.

“When using this to monitor crops it is always best to fly perpendicular to the wind, otherwise, if you are flying with the wind the photos are spaced out a bit too far and coming back they will be too close together,” said Kostuik. “Sometimes a hawk or bird will investigate the drone and so they have incorporated a few things into the control software, such as a barrel roll.”

When operating the drone, you must plug the battery into the device on the ground as that is how it determines where ground level is located. Launching the plane is as simple as giving the device three shakes and releasing it.

When landing the drone, the computer will count down to the landing and the plane’s motor will reverse if it feels that it is coming in too quickly.

“I try to fly over my fields weekly, but biweekly for sure, for geo-mapping and yield monitoring. A file from the drone on a quarter section can run around four or five gigabytes. So, you do need a pretty powerful computer to quickly generate that data and a fair amount of storage space,” said Kostuik. “I would recommend an external hard drive to store your photos so that it won’t slow down your computer.”

Kostuik warns that the drone can produce a lot of photos, which can be time consuming to process, however, there are companies such as Precision Hawk and Robo Flight, that offer imagery processing on a cost-per-acre basis.

On the market today there is an ever-expanding variety of drone models with price tags reaching anywhere from $1,000 to more sophisticated models that can be tens of thousands.

While drones can give you an eye in the sky and excellent records of your fields, Kostuik advises not getting rid of your agronomist just yet.

“These are absolutely great tools but they certainly don’t beat boots on the ground,” said Kostuik. “It may be able to show you that there is an issue in your fields but you are still going to have to go out there and find out the cause.”

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