How Drone Technology Can Help you Plan for the Growing Season

DroneDeploy helps agriculture professionals assess product trials throughout the season

Planning

Those already familiar with DroneDeploy can use last year’s data to plan for this year. Analyzing past crop performance is easy using historical in-season maps which enables farmers to identify which seed hybrids and chemical varieties to purchase for the upcoming spring. By mapping their fields multiple times a year, farmers can track field progress and understand potential risks to help plan for seasons to come.

Fertility

Drones can also help predict a farm’s earning potential and overall fertility by comparing historical in-season imagery with prior year’s yield and soil maps. When planning your variable rate nitrogen prescription, using in-season imagery in conjunction with additional data layers will ensure you are taking all possible variables into consideration for the most profitable fertility plan. Using DroneDeploy’s zone management capabilities and plant health analysis can help you better understand your plant health zones within your fields to make the most comprehensive variable rate nitrogen Rx.

Utilize Agremo in the app market to conduct drone-based stand counts to assess emergence

Planting

Once planting begins in the spring, drone technology becomes especially useful. Flying drones to analyze stand counts and plant emergence not only simplifies operations but eliminates human error. This type of analysis allows the user to assess hybrid quality early in the season and quantify areas that might need to be replanted as soon as possible. Agremo, one of the 70+ apps on DroneDeploy’s App Marketplace, is an inexpensive tool that conducts automatic stand counts, as well as identifying potential water stress, disease risk, and other factors.

Don’t waste time making multiple trips between the field and the office in order to analyze mapping results. With Live Map, you can map 160 acres in just 15 minutes and get results field-side, allowing you to quickly identify and act on the causes of crop variability.