Drones Use Is on the Rise
The use of drones in the fields of agriculture, construction, and forestry is changing the way we look at traditional jobs. It seems with each day a new application is being developed for drones, making them more essential for operations seeking to gain a technological edge over their competition. Drones are enabling adopters of the technology to gather data quickly, complete time-intensive jobs rapidly, as well as view their fields, projects, and forests from a different vantage point. Here's a quick look at how people in agriculture, construction, and forestry are using drones in their operations.
Drones are becoming an increasingly important tool for farms, especially farms with lots of acreage. A drone's ability to fly, film, and scout crops from the sky has dramatically reduced the time and manpower this project typically takes on foot. The aerial view provided by a camera-equipped drone allows farmers to detect everything from irrigation problems to soil variation to pest and fungal infestations. Furthermore, drones equipped with an infrared camera can help identify distressed plants, something that could not be achieved by merely walking the fields and performing individual inspections. Data-driven farmers catalog and stitch together the photos captured by drones to paint a picture of the field. From this they can gather information on trends in the field and crop management, so they can make more informed decisions on watering, fertilizing, and the use of pesticides.
In construction, drones are helping to provide a valuable service, reaching places that humans and heavy machinery cannot. Using camera drones, construction companies can quickly and easily survey sites or building projects. After the survey, they can provide progress reports, and relay vital information to crews on the ground. The aerial view provided by drones also helps give project managers a better understanding of the logistics and patterns of a construction site. Through aerial imagery, they can discover traffic patterns, locate materials, uncover potential hazards, and keep up site cleanliness, resulting in a safer, more productive working environment.
Much like the agricultural and construction drone applications, drones are being used by foresters to monitor their lands. Drones allow foresters to map their lands; track tree health, bloom, and growth; and watch for illegal activities or potentially hazardous situations from above. New technology is being developed to use drones for re-planting forests as well, using them to not only create a map and devise a seeding plan, but also to deliver the seeds and then monitor their growth.
As drone use becomes more ingrained into the ag, construction, and forestry industries, look for their impact to continue to grow as new uses and applications are developed and implemented. We don’t see a large market blossoming for drone tires, but the machines on the ground are still going to be needed to implement plans devised using data captured from the sky. We build some of the most high-tech tires in the industry and are perfect for businesses looking to be at the leading edge of technology in their industries. It's our commitment to innovation that has helped make us the fastest-growing off-highway tire (OHT) producer in the industry.
