Article taken from Arable Farming magazine
Agrovista's head of precision technology Lewis McKerrow believes the biggest challenges yet to come from using UAVs will be how growers make the most of data being collected. ""There has been huge growth in using UAVs in agriculture over the last 12-18 months, but under-standing and acting on the in-formation you see will be the next hurdle for growers to overcome. ""Technology is changing rapidly, and we've been trailing different types of equipment with a view to extending our services in 2016," he adds. ""A UAV will help enormously with the continuation of our ongoing trials site work. It will enable easier identification of crop vulnerability and weed patches from the air, which should lead to more efficient generation of treatment maps and a faster response with chemical applications.""
Fixed-wing
He says the firm is leaning to-wards fixed-wing aircraft for their extended flight times and their ability to cover more area than rotary aircraft. But he accepts there are roles for both types. ""Typical flight times of fixed wing UAVs is about 40 minutes," he says. ""It is about twice as much flight time as a quadcopter or hexacopter."" He believes such equipment has tremendous potential as an advanced early warning mechanism for growers. And in the right circumstances, imaging - even simple photographs - can pro-vide a rapid update on field and crop status, following a simple flight.
Though perhaps the biggest downside to a UAV, he suggests, is a lack of weather-proofing. ""Electronics and the UK's typically wet weather simply don't mix," he says. ""And this alone will naturally restrict your flying opportunities."" For farmers though, he thinks the simple functionality of a quadcopter with a camera could easily lead them to an area of a field where they might not have crop-walked. ""There is no doubt UAV technology is here to stay - it's what you do with the information which will make them much more of an essential management tool, rather than the latest electronic gadget.""