How drones are quietly changing the face of Ontario agriculture
The same technology used in military aviation “drones” is flying over farmland in southwestern Ontario, and it is quietly changing the face of agriculture.
Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have become part of a farmer’s strategy for crop and livestock management, helping drive an era of “data-driven” agriculture, which could reduce food costs and help the environment.
Smaller, more powerful, inexpensive UAVs are devices about the size of a bread box in the shape of anything from miniature fixed-wing aircraft to rotor-bladed “quad-copters” loaded with high resolution point-and- shoot cameras, thermal imagery, geographic information systems, flight pattern software and GPS.