Farm drones: Rise of the machines

The agricultural industry in NZ could be revolutionised by drones.

The potential uses and benefits of remote piloted aircraft systems, aka 'drones', are quite amazing.

Some commentators have gone as far to say that the agricultural industry could be revolutionised. If this is the case, Japan and Brazil may be on the fast track to agricultural prosperity, with both countries quick to adopt these machines as part of everyday farm management.

In New Zealand, we tend take a more cautious 'wait and see' approach to new technologies, but the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) isn't taking any chances. Under current regulations the CAA has no power to govern the use of drones, and the Authority is seeking to address this before drones become more or less a part of the landscape.

Federated Farmers' submission to the CAA on options for controlling drone use, points out that there is potential for drones to become an important part of on-farm management in New Zealand. Current uses of drones in agriculture include monitoring and herding stock, video recording/photography for agricultural research, and adverse event information collection.

But this just seems to be the tip of the haystack in terms of potential benefits. It has been reported that researchers are developing drones equipped with cameras and other sensors to survey crops, monitor for disease, and precision-spray pesticides and fertilisers.

Farmers believe that the technology could transform agriculture by boosting crop health, improving field management practices, reducing costs and increasing yields, let alone security.

With all this potentially at stake, Federated Farmers considers it is important that any controls developed by the CAA are targeted in terms of safety risk, and do not unnecessarily burden users with significant compliance costs.

As with all advancements in technology there are potential downsides with the use of drones, especially in the areas of privacy and security. It is not clear what protection, if any, farmers and rural landowners would have from invasive use of drones under the current law.

A recent case in America has highlighted the legal difficulties of illegitimate drone use in an unregulated environment. A journalist has filed a lawsuit alleging that police officers violated his free-speech rights by questioning his use of a drone to record images of a car wreck.

Federated Farmers is keen to see the CAA work with other Government departments, such as the Privacy Commission, to develop privacy and security policy on drone use, before farmers begin to find small unidentified flying objects hovering over their shearing and cow sheds peering in at them.