Are you looking to turbocharge your workflow on the farm? According to Mike Winn, a drone could be just the tool you’re looking for.
“Drones are indispensable on the farm,” says the CEO of DroneDeploy. “They allow you to see your entire field from 400 feet and instantly zoom down to inspect problems from 2 inches above a plant.”
Winn offers five ways farmers can leverage the power of aerial insights.
- Pinpoint pests, parasites, and fungi. “Drone software can reveal crucial insights about plant health, which allows growers to identify diseases and make instant decisions about next steps before they ruin the entire harvest,” he says.
- Eliminate inefficient guesswork with AI and machine learning. Growers can leverage machine learning and AI to produce plant population reports and establish stand counts. “With a comprehensive set of aerial data, growers and agronomists can replace traditional on-the-ground scouting methods that often have a high degree of error while saving thousands of dollars in the process,” he says.
- Assess and mitigate damage in real time. One major weather event can decimate a crop. “With real-time aerial imagery, combined with computer vision, it helps growers assess damage instantly so they can immediately take action in the field to mitigate the loss and negotiate a fair settlement with insurers,” explains Winn.
- Plan your data-driven future. While drones are great for instant decision making, tools like side-by-side maps and the ability to generate variable-rate prescriptions for pesticides help with advanced crop management. “In a data-driven world, no precision agriculture program should be without a drone this season,” he says.
- Harness the power of the off-season. Drones can help ensure that growth and harvest are a success. “Software can help assess irrigation systems, scan soil to detect preseason issues, and even spot trends in prior maps that help growers prepare for the season ahead,” says Winn.