F UT URER UB
F OR
CUS
IE K
•••
DRONES ARE NOT ‘PIE IN
THE SKY’ SCIENCE FICTION
TECHNOLOGY ANYMORE!
JENNY MATHEWS
EVEN WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH AND IMMEDIATE
CIRCUMSTANCES LOOK BLEAK, THE DYNAMIC
WORLD OF AGRICULTURE IS CONTINUOUSLY
OFFERING US SOMETHING NEW AND EXCITING
TO INSPIRE US. IT IS DAYS LIKE THESE THAT IT IS A
GOOD IDEA TO INVESTIGATE NEW OPPORTUNITIES
AND ALLOW ONESELF TO BE INSPIRED BY THE
BIGGER PICTURE IN FARMING SO THAT OUR VISION
DOES NOT STAY FOCUSED ON WHAT HAS BEEN
QUITE A NEGATIVE YEAR FOR MANY FARMERS
FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE.
I
had heard of drones
before - and I have
heard of their use in the
world of espionage and
warfare; I have also recently
seen how effective they have
been in bringing filmed
footage of images from areas
which have been difficult
to access following disaster
such as the earthquake in
Nepal - but honestly I never
imagined drones holding any
value to me as a farmer and
it goes beyond my wildest
imagines to think that I may
need to budget to own one
in the future.
Over the past few weeks I
have once again been awed by
the incredible strides we can
make in agriculture through
adapting our farm management
to embrace and utilize new
technologies in the market
such as drones or UAV’s
(Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).
The first I heard of using
drones in agriculture was from
Indiana farmer, Kip Tom, who
addressed the Grain SA Congress
in March and shared his vision
of the role data science will play
to ensure sustainable production,
protection of the environment
and increased productivity.
He is driven by the belief we
need a revolution in the way
we do things in agriculture and
argues this will be achieved
through utilising informatics
(the science of information)
and technology. His message
is that most farmers have at
most, 40 opportunities in 40
seasons to improve their methods
and their productivity - and
most don’t make the necessary
changes at a fast enough pace.
He challenges farmers to become
innovative, to dig deeper and
reach further to bring innovation
to the farm gate. This is the key
to survival and to feeding the
world’s growing population.
He also maintains that these
technologies will increasingly
become more affordable and
easier to access. Kip says that
he has already significantly
increased his operational
management through the use
of data information. Tom
Farms facebook page says they
‘utilize superior technology,
round-the-clock vigilance and
flawless execution - to lower
costs and increase efficiency,
combat weather and disease,
and nourish the land - all while
maximizing the productive
capability of every single acre’.
Wow, I want some of that too!
You can go to their facebook
page and watch footage of their
operations from their drone and
their website: www.tomfarms.
com is interesting too. Kip Tom
believes we need to adapt to
an increasingly faster pace of
change and we must ‘learn fast’!
Two weeks later, I attended
an excellent Pannar Information
day in the North West. I was
listening to a talk about new
cultivars when I noticed a little
white, insect-like ‘thingamajig’
zooming in on our lecture site in
the middle of the mealies. It flew
closer and I grew increasingly
more excited as I realised this
was the new tool for us farmers
that Kip Tom had been talking
SENWES Scenario • June/July 2015
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