A DRONE may soon be as common, and as useful, as a cattle dog on Australian properties.
Ruralco, procurement manager, Leonie Furze said Ruralco, along with partner Precision Hawke, is carrying out a research project with Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) to investigate the future of drones.
“We are looking at how drones can assist beef cattle producers,” she said.
Ms Furze said the project involved surveying producers to crowdsource information on how drones could or should be used.
“We are finding activities like checking water points, fence lines and stock are the obvious uses,” she said.
Ms Furze said labour saving and workplace safety were potential benefits perceived by farmers of the technology.
“If you don’t have to climb up a tank to check the water level, it is safer,” she said.
Ms Furze said the project would provide information to help industry make choices on where to invest.
“There is a lot of technology already for crops,” she said.
“If there is flooding, there is a lot of plant health data that can be assessed.
“There are indexes such as NDVI which can be used.
“We are almost at the stage where we can go straight to the variable rate.
Ms Furze said Ruralco were pleased to use their relationship with farmers to add value to the industry.
“We are doing this project with MLA to really try and direct technology to assist beef and sheep producers.
“Australia is such a large, diverse country.
“Using technology is the direction agriculture needs to go in.”
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