“This technology allows [small farmers] to see things that they might not be able to see with the naked eye,” says Norm Lamothe, head of UAS Agriculture for Deveron UAS.
Drones are becoming more and more common in our modern life. And while it is not at all uncommon to find drones being used in agriculture for surveillance or feeding efforts, Ontario-based Deveron UAS have developed a new approach, combining drones with thermal imaging to provide farmers with crucial info on their crop yields.
Deveron UAS is a full-service remote sensing company, whose equipment allows growers to access crop information without having to assume the costs, risks and maintenance of the high-tech sensors, hardware and software. Norm Lamothe, head of UAS Agriculture for Deveron UAS says that larger scale farms generally have more and larger equipment capable of performing precision agriculture. Deveron UAS, he says, brings that capability to the smaller farmer.
“The smaller farmer doesn’t have access to as much technology, or any technology in some cases,” says Lamothe. “Some farms don’t even have a yield monitor or access to yield monitor capabilities. But through the imagery, we’ve been able to correlate yield to plant health with seasons. Those growers can then use that map to create zones, either for fertility or for their own management practices on the farm for where they want to put manure, etc. It provides them with quite a bit of valuable information on that front.”
The data provided can also be crucial for crop-scouting, says Lamothe. Their technology also has the ability to do a digital elevation model, showing the topography of the area surveyed, which can be useful for planning draining, ditching and pond creation or for creating natural habitats or water for animals.
Lamothe, who farms a 500 acres in Ontario with his family, says that the technology can make a crucial difference for smaller farmers.
“We recognized early on that in order to be successful, we need to be more efficient,” says Lamothe. “And we should be more efficient than a larger farm simply because we know our land better, we get on our land at opportune times, we don’t feel the same pressure and stresses of timing and planting and things like that. This technology lets us look at it even closer and make decisions that will help us on the farm.”
After collecting and analyzing data, Lamothe says Deveron UAS provide growers with data in whatever format they request—often specialized image formats compatible with farming software, sometimes simply a PDF file. For small farmers, he says, they would likely provide a geo-reference map that shows the variability in their field which can be uploaded onto a program such as Google Earth where they can see the different areas of variability. With that information in hand, they know where specifically to look for issues related to water, pest and disease management, fertility or equipment.
Lamothe says the time and the market is right for this technology—the price of the hardware and sensors used have dropped in recent years, meaning they can keep their prices more affordable for smaller farmers.
“Small farms are always looking to improve,” says Lamothe. “They have some very unique crops that they grow that are often outside of what we would consider a mainstream type of operation. They know their land very well. This technology allows them to see things they might not be able to see with the naked eye. It’s a tremendous opportunity across all fronts, either small or large.”
- Matt Jones