What is cattle monitoring?
Cattle monitoring is a key part of running a farm and ensuring it runs successfully. Cattle often have access to massive amounts of land and all need to be checked up once in a while to ensure everything is ok. Drones make this easy by flying above the cattle and capturing key data on them, rather than having someone manually do the checks, saving time, money, and improving efficiency.
How does cattle monitoring work?
- A drone is sent up, to a high enough altitude that it doesn't bother the cattle. The drone is equipped with an RGB camera and sometimes a thermal camera.
- The drone flies around capturing image data on the heard, with a live stream from the camera being broadcast to pilot.
- The data is then looked over closely to check the number of cattle, any signs of health issues, and more. A decision on the what to do next is then made.
Benefits of using drones
- Much more land can be covered in a short amount of time, saving time, energy, and money on other monitoring methods.
- Monitoring costs come down when compared to ground-based methods and manned aircraft.
- Cattle can be monitered more frequently, allowing health issues to be sorted out faster along with any other issues.
Image: AgUpdate