Using drones on-farm

Drones can provide value to a farm business by:

• saving time
• reducing labour costs
• reducing wear and tear on vehicles
• improving access to hard-to-reach areas. 

Consumer drones that are readily available are an affordable option to achieve this and performance can be maximised through practice and experience of the user.

Current drone options can provide value in pasture management by providing superior ground monitoring. 

Aerial images

The aerial images taken from a drone as part of regular monitoring protocols show larger areas, from different angles and more effectively show pasture changes compared to photos taken at ground level. It is important to validate results with on ground data.

Combining on-ground visuals with aerial images and monitoring techniques will improve results in relation to the time spent collecting and analysing information.

Drone mapping software

Adding drone mapping software to a drone and using with aerial imagery, provides more benefits than just aerial images used on their own.

The main advantages of using software over aerial images alone include:

• a higher level of detailed information to be collected efficiently across a larger area
• improved display of data in an interactive map. 

The software creates the maps by taking a series of photos while it flies transects across the chosen area and can then connect the series of images and embed additional information such as:

• spatial data
• plant health. 

These flights are repeatable and displayed in a platform that makes comparing maps and observing changes in the landscape across time easier and more useful compared to records using a ground level photos and ground truthing sheets alone. 

This is because when using a drone to take aerial photos it is most practical to take a limited series of individual images that emphasise changes in the pasture and makes managing files and keeping records simple. 

Each of these photos limits the area shown and value of field view observation within the height limitation of 120 m. However, with the drone mapping software, the entire area can be collected in detail and managed easily by interacting with the data. 

For example, in the demonstration 10 hectares of map was collected which equates to 500-600 individual photos that took 20 minutes to collect using the repeatable flight plan. This quantity of photos and data would take a lot more time and effort to collect manually, manage and get value from without the software.

The main advantages of using the drone were: 

• its ability to collect a larger sample area more efficiently
• the reduced time out in the paddock
• improved accuracy due to reduction in human error. 

Using drone results

By looking at the images and data collected from drones, it is possible to find trends within the landscape in visual records that may have been missed in a smaller representative sample. 

An example of this is monitoring site data not showing a lot of change, but the broader landscape may have creeks or flood outs that could have big changes not being measured. 

• The plant health layer assists with visualising these patterns and changes through measuring ‘greenness’ within the maps to highlight differences in vegetation and groundcover.
• It is then possible to zoom in on a potential area of interest to 1.6 cm pixel size to observe specific features and easily find that point in the paddock if further observation is required.
• This zoom allows types of plants and some species to be identified.

These features make it possible to retrieve information about pastures efficiently when needed to make timely decisions. 

The quality of this information relies on ground truthing data to improve its accuracy and explain changes observed in the drone map. However, it could be used opportunistically on its own when required as the data set of maps for that pasture is repeated. 

Once there is multiple maps of the same pasture ground-truthed it is easier to adjust the settings within the software to show how the pasture condition compares to a previous map or season.

Using observed differences and known data it is possible to make assumptions about the trajectory of the pasture and how to manage it accordingly. This data includes:

• rainfall
• species composition
• time of year.

Although the maps cannot easily extract many desirable pasture measurements, the ability to measure 
and display green feed is valuable and could be a substitute for some on ground measurements. 

Collecting quadrats for species composition can be time consuming and although important to monitor, does not necessarily indicate pasture quality and potential animal performance at that point in time. 

A change in the quantity or proportion of green and actively growing pasture that the drone maps could emphasise and allow to manage accordingly, and could be attributed to changes in:

• species
• growth phase
• rainfall
• grazing pressure
• other factors. 

If improving monitoring and creating a visual record of interactive maps of pasture is desired, drones in their current form can achieve this and assist with making pasture management decisions. 

Drone use limitations

For landholders wanting specific pasture measurements, drones and software are not currently the best 
investment, but with some improvements, may be an option in the future. 

Current drone models are limited by:

• battery life
• flight path/height regulations
• software not meeting all farm requirements.

The ability to use drones on farm depends on:

• budget
• technological skill
• property size
• software and job description for the drone.

Other uses for drones

Drones have a lot of potential to assist on-farm as technology increases.

Other than pasture management, there are a number of activities that can, and in the future could potentially be able to assist with, including:

• mustering
• checking infrastructure like water and fences
• monitoring animal health
• weed spraying, both blanket and precision
• managing pest animals by spotting, infrared, and measuring impact like warrens and digging
• plant health and precision management in orchards
• planning and mapping infrastructure and earthworks
• observing land management changes
• recording GPS locations
• counting things like number of cactus and measuring things like the approximate length of fence.