Agriculture Goes Digital: Robots & Drones In Farming
Recent technological advances have seen robots and drones become invaluable within certain industries. Agriculture is no exception. Traditional farming processes are undergoing rapid change in the UK and globally. It has been estimated that drones alone can provide a 15 to 20 percent increase in farm productivity.
With this new trend, farmers can expect to be able to make key decisions quickly, saving on time, labour, and money by implementing artificial intelligence, satellite imagery, and sophisticated predictive software.
The drone technology has the ability to map the cropping area, produce accurate weather data, and may also be able to process answers, for example need based application of agrochemicals by identifying the weeds, pests, diseases and their types.
Benefits of using Agricultural Drones
- 24 Hour Farming – Self-driving tractors, robots and drones can be guided by the farmer from their phone or tablet during critical points in the season.
- Pest and Weather Protection – Agricultural drones can assist in protecting a crop from the devastating effects of weather and pests by identifying the risk.
- Extremely Localised Weather Data – Detailed predictions about the state of the local weather in the farmers area, helping them determine what to plant in any given timeframe. Enables the farmer to make decisions such as if crops should be harvested when weather conditions are about to change.
- Ease of Use – Agricultural drones are easily operated, and the data they provide is easily understood. You do not need to be an expert in technology to benefit.
- Resilient – The drones are extremely reliable, operating well even during changing weather conditions.
At Nicholson we are seeing more of our customers investing in the latest technology in farming and the positive impact that digital farming has on their operations. As this shift becomes more prominent, we continue to work alongside our customers to understand the changing needs and potential innovation for our machines.