«Previous    Next»
Drone Best Buy
Brad Wood, Greens Fork, Ind.: “My Mavic Air 2 is a pretty well-rounded drone. I could do commercial work with it, but that would require a drone license. So far, I just use it around my farm, so all I had to do was register it with the FAA.
    “I raise sheep and poultry on pasture with Peterson-style chicken tractors. A recent discussion on the APPPA forum centered on the use of drones. Some members found their birds ran when a drone was flown overhead, thinking it was a predator bird. One member used a drone to train birds to seek cover.
    “I’ve used my drone to get aerial photos of my sheep and the chicken tractors for use on my social media, but not to check on the birds.
    “Aerial pictures of the pastures provide a snapshot of pasture quality. I can see the distribution of manure from the chicken tractors in the patterns in vegetation and compare how the pastures are doing over time.
    “My main use of the drone has been to document infrastructure improvements to the farm and to maintain a visual record of the homestead. I’ve even used it to track algae growth in the pond.
    “When planning a new fence, I overlaid my photos with Google Earth images for planning purposes.
    “I use Dronelink software (www.dronelink.com). You don’t need it to simply fly a drone. However, it lets me produce a flight plan the drone will follow repeatedly. It ensures the drone will take pictures from the same location, height and direction every time the flight plan is activated. It provides consistency, and the software will adapt the flight plan to a new drone if I replace the one I have.
    “I also have Maps Made Easy software (www.mapsmadeeasy.com). It stitches pictures together. This makes it easier to see changes over time.”


  Click here to download page story appeared in.



  Click here to read entire issue




To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.
Order the Issue Containing This Story
2023 - Volume #47, Issue #3