In the ever-changing world of agronomy, Peter Yelland from PY Agronomy sheds light on the challenges faced by farmers over the past five years, including severe droughts and devastating floods. However, amidst these hardships, the increasing adoption of drone technology has emerged as a game-changer in agriculture. In a featured article in Farming in Focus, Peter discusses the immense value drones bring to various agricultural applications, now and into the future.
Over the past three years, PY Agronomy has worked extensively with StevTech, the agriculture drone and data specialists, utilising their expertise in drone technology to create solutions to problems faced across multiple agricultural sectors, including broadacre cropping, pasture management, and high-intensity irrigation programs.
Pictured are samples of a paddock scanned using a drone completed by StevTech. The canola was then identified using machine learning.
The canola is shown as the area in green on the map in Image 1.0. It's noted that there is a lack of density of canola in the centre of the area scanned; an example of this is shown top left in Image 1.1.
The team's exposure to drone technology has uncovered its tremendous value, which is expected to improve further as advancements continue. Some of the notable applications of drones in agriculture that have already been commercialised include:
Weed Mapping: Drones with advanced imaging technology can identify individual weeds based on leaf or flower structure within crops or pastures. This capability enables the detection of different weed types, populations, and locations, particularly in winter crops.
Plant Population Monitoring and Mapping: Drone mapping becomes invaluable for crops that heavily rely on specific plant populations to maximise production. This feature is particularly advantageous for irrigated crops like cotton, sweet corn, and canola in broadacre scenarios. The generated coverage maps aid in replanting scenarios and facilitate variable seeding to achieve optimal plant populations.
Fallow Weed Management: Drones are a viable alternative for broadacre spraying when a ground or aerial application is not feasible. Additionally, drone mapping of weed populations and locations can be used to inform compatible boom sprayers for targeted spot spraying purposes.
Spot Spraying Specific Weeds: Using data obtained from a weed scanning application, coverage maps can be loaded into drones to enable precise and targeted weed control, minimising the need for widespread herbicide application.
Broadacre Spraying: Drones effectively tackle hard-to-kill noxious weeds like St. John's Wort, particularly in challenging terrains where ground or aerial spraying is unsuitable.
The potential applications of drone technology in agriculture are limitless. As technology continues to advance, farmers can expect significant benefits such as:
Measuring dry matter production
Herbicide-resistant management through plant identification and weed mapping
Nutrition monitoring
Pest and weed identification
Disease monitoring through physical presence and heat measurement
Large-scale weed mapping in rugged terrains
Stock monitoring
Water monitoring
Precision spraying for specific plant control
Fully automated monitoring and application
The agricultural industry gains substantial benefits from drone technology's rapid development and application. As demonstrated by PY Agronomy's experiences and insights shared by Peter Yelland in Farming in Focus, drones offer cost savings, efficiency improvements, and enhanced accuracy in various agricultural practices. With the potential to address labour shortages and optimise resource management, drones are set to transform how farmers operate. As this technology continues to evolve, showcasing its commercial value to all stakeholders is crucial, ensuring a brighter and more sustainable future for the agricultural industry.