Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. You may think that drones are going to be most useful in the future to bring you a new best-selling book or an obscure ingredient for a sophisticated recipe, but the actual and potential uses for agriculture are mind boggling. At many productions meetings in recent years, we’ve ended by going outside the classroom to see a demonstration – not by an extension specialist but by an actual farmers.
With fields as large as several thousand acres, conventional scouting for insect, disease, or cultural problems that was done by walking or by riding a four-wheeler, just isn’t possible. But drones, with different filters and photographic options, can cover parts of fields that become inaccessible as crops mature. Small differences can be detected that lead to quick inspection and action – be it an insecticide or fungicide application or a malfunctioning irrigation head. This is another example of precision, targeted agricultural practices.
