AGRICULTURAL NEWS - The study is one of several conducted by Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences on various applications of drone technology, from monitoring crops to sampling microbes in the air.
“Farms could use drones as a ‘check-on’ tool to ensure sheep are where they are supposed to be,” says Dan Swafford, project associate for Virginia Cooperative Extension.
“Drones can help farmers gain quick access to see if an animal is in need or injured, [or] to examine if a ewe has delivered a lamb.”
According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the potential market in the US for agricultural drones is US$32,4 billion (more than R390 billion), as they can save time and money as well as reduce human error.
