Drone training helps farmers land new skills in Alberta’s Peace Region | 24CA News
Calving season is arising and operators on the C Bar Ranch in northwestern Alberta hope to preserve tabs on the increasing herd with an eye-in-the-sky geared up with thermal imaging.
Ethan Lentz, who works with the cow-calf operation on the ranch close to Fairview, Alta., landed new abilities to assist handle crop and herd well being this month at a drone coaching workshop within the Peace Region.
“You don’t necessarily want to be driving around in the pasture all the time on an ATV and disturbing cattle while they’re trying to calve,” Lentz stated in an interview with 24CA News.
Landview Drones, primarily based in Camrose, Alta., held programs in Peace River and Grande Prairie to indicate farmers tips on how to use drones and imaging know-how to assist with duties like seeding, fertilizing and monitoring herd well being.
Lentz stated having a chicken’s-eye view of the 200-head cattle operation will imply much less put on and tear on his farm tools.
“You put the cattle out there in the wildest landscape and they’ll convert that land into food for us. So being able to fly a drone through that kind of terrain is extremely beneficial.”
Drones have the potential to unfold grass seed in addition to monitor for weeds which can be poisonous to cattle.
Pesticide rules
A farmer could be breaking federal guidelines in the event that they had been to mitigate weeds utilizing a drone. Although three merchandise have been authorised for mosquito management, it is towards Health Canada rules to spray agricultural pesticides utilizing the brand new know-how.
“Additional drone-specific data (e.g., spray drift, efficacy, occupational exposure) is required to be able to determine that application of a product by drone does not pose an unacceptable risk to humans and the environment,” Health Canada stated in an announcement to 24CA News.
Markus Weber, president of Landview Drones, supplies coaching on the know-how to the agriculture sector throughout western Canada. The Camrose, Alta., business proprietor stated rules to permit drones to use agricultural pesticides are lagging behind the United States and different international locations in Asia.
“The main reason most of the farmers are interested in [drones] is because they’re fast and because they’re affordable … and ultimately will let us apply less chemical than we are now.”
Jeremy Farmer, with Roddie Creek Ranch close to Quesnel, B.C., travelled to Grande Prairie to learn to seed with the assistance of a drone. He stated the know-how will allow him so as to add one other crop, like legumes, to his corn fields.
The follow known as cowl cropping, which may help defend soil from wind and water erosion.
“If you go in there with a machine, you’ll knock all your corn down,” Farmer stated in an interview with 24CA News.
Farmer stated seeding a second crop from the sky as soon as the corn stalks have grown excessive sufficient may keep away from competitors whereas cowl cropping. He additionally hopes utilizing a drone also can assist scale back prices.
“The cost of production is changing. The cost of energy is changing. Fertilizer prices, seed prices, everything,” Farmer stated.
Cutting emissions
Agriculture producers can obtain funding for initiatives that retailer carbon and scale back greenhouse gases together with cowl cropping, nitrogen administration and rotational grazing. Last yr, the federal authorities introduced $182.7 million towards 12 initiatives below the Agricultural Climate Solutions – On-Farm Climate Action Fund.
Lentz stated he hopes to see motion on drone pesticide rules so Canadian ranchers like him can proceed to chop emissions. Still, the multigenerational rancher stated there are advantages for himself and his father.
“You can fly a drone from the heat of the truck. You don’t have to get out in the cold to check the cattle,” Lentz stated.
“It kind of takes a lot of the hard work out of some of those things that beat you up over time.”
