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While it’s still relatively rare to see a drone on an Irish farm, there are predictions that within one to five years we’ll see a lot more. The agriculture industry is expected to be one the largest users of drones in the future and Ireland will be no exception. It is estimated that there are more than 4,000 drone pilots in Ireland and this number is set to increase.
Investment in the agricultural drone sector is booming. Google acquired Titan Aerospace, a specialist drone company. Now international consultancy company PwC has set up a full drone division. It’s becoming clear that the new generation of farmers could become more familiar with piloting drones than they are with driving tractors.
Drones are now being referred to as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as part of an effort to move away from the term drone, which is often associated with leisure devices.
Their use has spurred some controversy – some farmers and researchers are supporting their use in bringing precision agriculture to the next level. Others are more cautious, fearing what it could mean for the big data battle. Either way, the use of drones or UAVs will revolutionise the future of farming.
Highly-advanced imaging equipment
There is a lot of US-based research being done on their use in farming. Boeing Research & Technology has linked with the Oregon State University and the USDA to use drones to monitor potato fields from the air, looking for moisture and nutrient deficiencies in crops. The highly-advanced imaging equipment notices details too subtle for the human eye to detect, which allows farmers to apply treatment before the crops are affected significantly.
Farmers who have realised the value of having GPS devices installed in tractors are looking to drones to help them to target their crop treatments with even greater precision.
Drones can also be used to monitor cattle and sheep herds. With new technology, they can detect unusual body temperatures and other changes in animal health conditions.
In the US, companies are offering drone rental services because as the drone technology improves so too does the purchase cost. For users unsure of what they want or what will work for them, drone rental will provide an ideal solution.
If drones are increasingly adopted by farmers, the precision agriculture industry could be the largest sector for drones and other unmanned vehicles. Today in Japan, 90% of crop spraying is performed by unmanned helicopters to cope with challenging terrain and small crop areas.
Drone registration by law in Ireland
In December 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to successfully roll out drone registration, which can be done via the IAA’s online ASSET portal. Since the first full day of the site being operational, the IAA has had an overwhelmingly positive response, with nearly 1,200 drones already registered.
To register a drone, the owner must be 16 years of age or older. Drones operated by those under 16 years of age must be registered by a parent or legal guardian.
In Ireland, all drones over 1kg in weight must be registered with the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and to encourage the safe use of drones. Registration can be completed online via the IAA’s website: www.iaa.ie/drones with a nominal fee of €5.
Ralph James, IAA director of safety regulation, said: “We are tremendously happy with the response to drone registration so far and would encourage those who have yet to register their drones to do so as soon as possible. Drones are an exciting new area of aviation and we are working with industry to ensure that they are used safely and do not interfere with other forms of aviation. It is the responsibility of all drone users to operate them in a safe manner and we would ask that they familiarise themselves with the rules, which are available on the IAA website.”
PwC launches division for drone services
International consultancy company PwC has launched its own drone services department. The PwC drone group is based in Poland and is seen as a significant vote of confidence in the industry.
PwC chose Poland because it is one of the only places in the world to have comprehensive legislation in place since 2013, regarding commercial drone flights.
PwC believes that drone technology offers a large variety of crop monitoring possibilities at a lower cost. Furthermore, drones can be integrated at every stage of the crop life cycle, from soil analysis and seed planting to choosing the right moment for harvesting.
PwC claims that drones will allow farming to become a highly data-driven industry, which eventually will lead to an increase in productivity and yields. Due to their ease of use and low cost, drones can be used for producing time series animations showing the precise development of a crop. Such analysis could reveal production inefficiencies and lead to better crop management. With those possibilities in mind, it can be assumed that this technology will transform agriculture into a high-tech industry for the first time, with decisions being based on real gathering and processing of data.
Thus, agriculture’s prime concern is not the drone’s speed or flexibility, but the type and quality of data it can obtain. So the industry will primarily push for more sophisticated sensors and cameras. Another objective will be to obtain drones that will require a minimal level of training and be highly automated.
In its Clarity from Above report, PwC says: “To satisfy world demand for food, close collaboration between governments, technology and industry has to be reinforced.” PwC estimates the addressable market of drone-powered solutions in agriculture industry at $32.4bn (€29.1bn).”
Drone data to change agriculture
David Hunt, managing director of Comex McKinnon, a leading Irish cereal importer and exporter, is enthusiastic about the use of drones. “What is really going to change agriculture is what we can do with the data that these drones produce, we can finally digitize agriculture,” he said.
Hunt added that the advanced array of sensors on a drone can measure a plant’s biome in real-time, and this information can be combined with increasingly sophisticated data analytics to create very powerful decision-making on-farm. “If we want to ensure food security in the face of a rapidly growing population, then we need to wholeheartedly engage with new technologies like drones,” he insisted.
DJI launched new drone for farming
DJI, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of drones, is stimulating the use of drones in agriculture in its Chinese home market. The company is planning to train 10,000 people together with the installation of 100 service centres. The Chinese government supports DJI with subsidies in order to promote the use of drones in agriculture.
The company has launched a specialist eight-propeller agricultural drone, called Agras MG-1 that is designed to work on tillage farms and costs around $14,000. This farming-specific drone has a spray tank capacity of 10 litres and can spray 4ha per hour, according to DJI.
The DJI Agras MG-1 is dustproof, water-resistant and made of anti-corrosive materials. It can be rinsed clean and folded up for easy transport and storage after use.
Users can select automatic, semi-automatic or manual operation modes, depending on terrain, with uniform spraying carried out via the drone’s nozzles. The drone has four replaceable, ceramic nozzles, each powered by a motor. The included nozzles can be used for thousands of hours of spraying. Downward airflow generated by the rotors increases spraying velocity and ensures the agent will reach plant stems and leaves near the soil.
The Agras features DJI’s flight-control system and microwave radar, with claims of centimetre-level accuracy. During flight, the drone scans the terrain in real-time, automatically maintaining its height and distance from plants to ensure application of an optimal amount of liquid. DJI’s real-time Lightbridge 2 transmission system is also on board.
The Agras MG-1’s body is sealed, and features an integrated centrifugal cooling system designed to extend motor life by up to three times. Triple-filtration cuts off intake of mist, dust and large particulates to reduce wear from impurities. As the drone flies, air enters the aircraft body via the front inlet, is filtered and passes through each of the aircraft’s arms to the motors, capturing heat from all components and the entire structure. Heat is then dissipated by venting into the surrounding air.
The drone’s intelligent memory function means after the Agras MG-1 is brought back to base for refill or recharge, it will return to its last memory point to pick up spraying where it left off.
Users control the Agras with a custom DJI remote. Its low-energy display panel gives real-time flight information and lasts for extended periods on a single charge.
Drones in farming - the future is flying
The use of drones in agriculture is expected to grow significantly, according to a US report by Winter Green Research. Drones in agriculture are being used with cameras to help implement precision farming.
Industry experts believe that inexpensive sensors, cloud computing and intelligent software used in a drone system hold the potential to transform agriculture and help feed the world’s growing population.
New drone technology allows farmers isolate crop areas for spraying and lets the drones do the spraying. The worldwide market for agricultural drones is currently estimated to be worth $494m and anticipated to reach $3.69bn by 2022.
There is growing venture investment funding going into the development of agricultural drones. This investment is not just in the development of new drones but also in the development of software support systems.
French drone manufacturer Delair-Tech has raised €13m in a funding round led by the Heriard Dubreuil family, which is the leading investor in cognac-maker Remy Cointreau, SA.
Delair’s drones use customised systems for agricultural use as well as industrial surveying and mapping. With this new investment, the company intends to grow its recently opened Australian subsidiary, as well as expand into the U.S. and China, two very lucrative drone markets.
Yamaha gets US approval for spraying drone (box/panel)
Yamaha has recently received permission in the United States to fly a helicopter type of crop-spraying drone, called the RMax. The European agricultural market is the next focus for Yamaha, as the company aims to boost drone manufacturing output from 320 this year to 500 by 2020.
Yamaha has over 2,600 helicopter spraying drones in use mainly in Japan, and now also in South Korea and Australia. Over 2.4m acres of Japanese crops are reported to be treated annually by the Yamaha RMax. It has proved ideal for spraying in difficult areas as a further help in reducing soil compaction.
The RMax costs about €70,000, weighs 64kg and can carry a load of 28kg, either as 16 litres of spray or 26 litres of fertiliser. Its 246cc two-cylinder petrol engine runs on a two-stroke oil mix and over 3ms in wingspan, it is normally moved from farm to farm behind a 4x4 and trailer.
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