More & more farmers are using drones

As I’ve noted before, drones are growing in popularity amongst farmers.

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It’s no wonder; they have highly capable photographic and video capabilities, are easy to fly, have a host of potential uses on a farm, and are becoming much more affordable.

One of the top manufacturers of commercial drones is DJI, a Chinese company founded in 2006 (dii1.com).

“They are successful because they were first to market, their quality is good, and their product has a zero learning curve,” says Jasmine Adamson of the Arizona Aerial Film Agency.

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“Many people love the idea of flying a radio-controlled aircraft, but don’t want to put in the effort to learn that skill. DJI has created a platform that gives people that.”

Having purchased a DJI Phantom 3 Pro, I have been highly impressed with the excellent camera quality (12 megapixels) and ultra-high video resolution (4K, or a horizontal resolution of approximately 4 000 pixels).

earn to fly a drone in five minutes

The drone’s remote control is so well-designed that you can master it in approximately five minutes. You can then fly it and see what it sees on a mobile phone or tablet. It also takes outstanding photographs. Depending on the model, you have up to 28 minutes’ flying time.

A safety feature I particularly like is that the drone returns home by itself when the remote signal is lost or the battery level is low. When the drone lifts off, it creates a GPS position automatically; this is the position it will return to if required.

Various DJI models are available from, R10 000. They have a wide range of uses on the farm, as discussed in previous columns.

Watch a farmer use his drone for precision agriculture.
Watch a video of a drone sent to a reservoir to check the water level. This takes about seven minutes, compared with the 45 minutes normally required for a vehicle.

Sources: www.alltech.com; www.quora.com.

Greg Miles is a livestock farmer and internet marketer.