When it comes to agriculture and farming, you must invest in the best drones to get the best harvest. No matter what you grow or whatever your crops are, it is important to monitor them using a drone when they graze. They have drastically improved agricultural efficiency; for example- you can spray crops with pesticides and herbicides, target exactly where the chemicals are needed while protecting the environment and money. The sensors analyze plant health, water levels, and more. So, drones in agriculture and farming are one of the revolutionary steps in agricultural technology.
To help you choose the best agriculture and farming drone, we researched the market and presented the 5 best drones for agriculture and farming in this list.
DJI Agras MG-1
This octocopter (it’s eight engines, arms, and propellers) can take 10kg of fluid to spray in pesticide and herbicide. This minimal spraying drone is designed to spray around 4,000-6,000 square feet in just 10 minutes. It may take time for a large farm, and you may need to do the task in a cycle, but in a smaller one, you can spray at once. The efficiency of the eight rotor propulsion system of this drone is mind-blowing.
The company claims its newer system is 40 times more efficient than the previous model. The drone can fly 8 meters per second and does proportion spray effectively. Its automatic adjustment system, automatically checking the flow according to the current flight and environmental conditions, is amazing. Moreover, you get three flight modes in the drone- smart mode, manual plus mode, and full manual mode. The drone is corrosion, dust, and water-resistant, making it one of the durable and quality products. Also, you can fold it for easy transport and storage.
Pros:
- Maximum efficiency and reliability.
- Spays accurately over the field.
- Ease of use.
- Records the current coordinates and remembers its past coordinates.
- Foldable and easy to carry.
Cons:
- None.
The SenseFly eBee SQ
The eBee SQ is a light, multispectral drone sensor to capture images of crops across four highly defined, visible, and non-visible spectral bands, RGB imagery, in one flight. After the drone’s images are processed, users can use Pix4Dmapper Ag/Pro software or cloud-based solutions- MicaSense ATLAS and AIRINOV’s.
The eBee SQ is one of the easy-to-fly fixed-wing drones. The drone has all the features like- flight planning, flight management, and the best image processing software. It is a fantastic investment as it can monitor crops in all the stages, from the planting to the harvest stage. It is a good choice for you if you’re looking for a fixed-wing drone to cover larger acres of land very fast. The drone is said to be ten times more powerful than other drones. The manufacturer said that it could go on more than thirty thousand missions in a day without any hassle. You can use the drone for topography, 3D mapping, soil temperature, H2O levels, plant counts.
Pros:
- Easier flight planning.
- Affordable and offers some great features.
- It covers a large area.
- Simple to use.
Cons:
- The price maybe expensive to some people.
Sentera’s NDVI Single Sensor
This is an excellent starter agricultural drone for scouting and can be the best solution for people who want a dedicated agriculture drone. It is simple to use and a powerful precision scouting tool. The drone has a 1.2MP NIR global shutter camera that provides you with the best NIR photos for NDVI indexing and a color camera for scouting.
The camera is known as one of the smallest and the lightest agriculture sensors available in the market. Moreover, the drone gives you a smooth flight experience. Also, you get a free installation service. NDVI images also give you prescribed fertilizer programs, estimate returns, and identify weeds.
Pros:
- Farmers get innovative agriculture systems.
- Compatible workflow.
- The drone covers a large area.
Cons:
- Expensive.
DJI Smarter Farming Package
The DJI smart farming package is fit for precision agriculture. You get a standard DJI M100 drone and a one-year free subscription to Data Mapper software and can create 2D and 3D maps using the software. Moreover, the software can analyze different kinds of crops and get an idea of other vegetative indices. When you use various analysis tools, you get a better idea of the yield and crop condition and make the best decisions. The drone comes with DataMapper and a mobile application.
Overall with this new farming DJI package, you will always get stable performance. It is easy to fly and provides you with a long-lasting performance. Also, you can fly the drone for up to 35 minutes with a single battery charge.
Pros:
- Long flight time.
- Provides a wide flight range.
- Outstanding design.
- Easy to use.
Cons:
- The drone doesn’t have a camera.
PrecisionHawk Crop Scouting Package
The Precision Hawk is a fantastic package for farming and a better yield of the crops. It includes InField flight monitoring software, visual sensor, image processing software, InFlight flight control, and monitoring mobile app to use your Smartphone. However, you need to cost some money to turn this package into a complete crop surveying solution. Professionals say these drones can improve production efficiency. This drone helps to get aerial results and a better analysis for the growth of the crop.
PrecisionHawk is simple to use so that the newbies can adopt drone technology. The drone has everything tremendous, but there are some problems too. To calculate the value of the images, you need to buy the Datamapper algorithms. Moreover, the drone does not have any multispectral sensors. We would suggest this package to someone who has; if you are looking for a decent farm area to analyze the quality on your own, the drone would be great for you.
Pros:
- Measures plant health quantitatively
- Can optimize the zonal efficiency of fields
- The drone can detect early indicators of plant stressors
- It can identify damaged fencing
Cons:
- The drone doesn’t have any multispectral sensor to capture NDVI data
Final Thought
Agricultural drones have significantly impacted farming and cultivation heavily in the past 3-5 years. It came with new opportunities to make agricultural processes easier, efficient, and hassle-free. They can completely change the way that many farmers go about their business. Moreover, drones are a lot safer than the manual labor of farmworkers. These drones give farmers new ways to monitor crop progress, storm damage and ensure the crops and herds are healthy. If you need to buy a drone for your farm, our 5 best drones for agriculture and farming can help you in this regard.
Feature Image by industrywired.com