Did you ever dream of a time when farmers controlled weeds with drones? Well, with Skytech drones and BROUAV, you can now.

Weed management is something every farmer deals with. Traditional methods are either very time and labour intensive, or in the case of helicopter spraying very expensive. Most farms have areas tough to navigate to or damaging to the land to get to by traditional ground methods, steep hillsides or even waterways where precision spraying is essential.

The power of Agriculture Intelligence, combined with farmland geographic information and operation prescription maps, farmers can “spray only where it needs”. This is a two-step process, whereby with the use of the BROUAV planning drone, a high-resolution map of your farm is created, and all the weeds to be controlled are mapped out in the highest accuracy. This mapping data will be retained for future comparison, so the health of your farm can be continuously assessed, and improvements monitored.

The second step is by using our state-of-the-art spraying technology on our drones to provide precision spraying only to the required weeds. The accuracy is down to an extraordinary 10cm. This means insecticidal products can be more effectively targeted, meaning less waste and reduced non-target impacts. Furthermore, drones can fly 1-2m above the treatment site, thereby further increasing the accuracy of insecticide application and spray drift is reduced.

Each job can vary quite considerably, but in general, drone spraying will cost between $300-$600 per hour. As each farmer or grower will have specific requirements (flow rates, droplet size, litres per acre or hectare, saturation, drone spray height) where the drone coverage, time and costs will vary from job to job.

Jobs are estimated based on the information provided and then invoiced on actual time taken. We only charge for drone hours, not man hours. There maybe, in some cases a minimum charge out cost, and there maybe a travelling fee for those very remote jobs. SkyTech guarantee a maximum variation of +/-20% of the estimated cost. This does not include additional services requested by client on the day of delivery.

Given the nature of New Zealand’s landscape and shear size of farms, stock control can be a long and at times dangerous process. Monitoring and moving stock on the farm can be effectively carried out by drones. Drones For livestock management is the next logical step in agricultural technology.

Farmers can use Drones fitted with cameras and thermal imaging capabilities to monitor livestock movement and health, perform counts, find stray cattle and lost sheep, and detect sick or injured animals. This can be performed by unmanned aircraft to reduce feet on the ground and enhance the information available to farmers to manage livestock.

Drones can even be used to move stock. This will reduce the time it takes you to move your herd. Just by hovering a drone overhead, they will move away from the sound of the drone. The livestock is not scared of the sound, but gently move. This is a great feature every day, but when areas of your farm become inaccessible by flooding or slips, then drone use becomes like none other, with the ability to move stock to higher ground, or to locate stock so you can prepare plans of action.

Our drones both saves time and increases property awareness. Farming is full of factors over which you have little or no control – economics, disease and weather to name but a few. But using drone technology enables precision farming and gives you access to a vast pool of data from which to plan.

Drones are a logical addition to a farmer’s toolkit and will soon become an integral part of modern farming. The value of informed planning and data-driven decisions and precision application provide increased yields, cannot be overstated, however;

The Problem – The biggest challenge currently facing private drone spraying is regulation. Many countries, including NZ, have heavily regulated systems, on the other hand, many countries don’t have any laws specifically regulating drone spraying, which means that the operator in these regions need to be very careful about their operations.

The Solution – SkyTech is a CAA certified drone company that offers a full-service of drone applications. Contact your closest authorised specialist or the Auckland or Christchurch for more information.

The Results? – Improved crop quality and a higher yield rate, reduced costs and more time to manage the farm. SkyTech drones can be used on nearly any kind of crop, including rice, wheat, corn, citrus trees, potatoes, grapes and much more.