Drones make the perfect partner for fertilising fields in areas of steep terrain or after bad weather.
Sometimes it’s just not practical to get your large tractor and spreader into the field.
It could be recent wet weather, the steep terrain or perhaps you’re just trying to look after you soil and reduce tramlines and compaction.
Whatever your reason, XAG’s latest agricultural drones make light work of heavy spreading jobs.
Once you’ve plotted the field and set up your spreading parameters, all it takes is one hand to swipe the app and the drone goes to work.
After that, it’s all autonomous. The drone knows where to go and what to do, so you can sit back and check your email or update your Facebook profile.
For this demonstration I was only spreading rice, but typical payloads include nitrogen fertilisers, slug pellets and a wide variety of seeds. In fact, it can spread any pellet with a diameter up to 10mm.
When the drone’s hopper is empty it quickly returns to it’s take off point for a refill.
These “pit stops” are the key to an efficient operation, but, as you can see, it can easily be handled by a single operator.
Once refilled, the drone resumes it’s autonomous flight, picking up the spraying precisely where it stopped to ensure a seamless 100% coverage.
Like all good farm vehicles, these drones need to be flexible to earn their keep.
Last week this drone was hard at work spraying 15 thousand litres shading agent on to greenhouse roofs to control their growing temperature.
Next week it will be spreading nitrogen fertiliser on steep hill sides, then it will be used to control slugs.
I wonder what will be next for this hard working drone?