who's into some heavy aerial mapping?

[pepper]

im just wondering if i should jump into this market. where i live, there are endless fields of beans, corn, cotton, etc. it would seem that mapping would be a good route to take. but.... is there anyone doing it that's actually making money at it?
ive looked at several platforms. of course mostly fixed wing. if any of you guys are into this, could you post some pro-con's to doing it.

 

[Old Man]

Those I am aware of doing it are performing with full scale, slow flying aircraft, and tech colleges serving the agricultural market with heavy government support. It's hard to conduct a business against someone that's receiving government funding for their operational expenses. My thoughts has our capability ideally suited to custom home builders where aerial mapping could significantly reduce the cost of land surveying, while also assisting the builder/homeowner in establishing structure orientation most appropriate for the build . With the population exceeding the available housing market for at least the next several years there's an opportunity there for someone with marketing skills.

 

[JoeBob]

I've done two 'Proof of Concept' projects. One for a private corp over cotton for plant survivability rates, and one for a university in NIR over soybeans. Both proved to be scientifically viable, but economically unreasonable. Farmers are not going to pay for acres of mapping to learn what common sense and their experience will already tell them.

 

[Bartman]

here's an idea, photogrammetry of performance venues with graphics added to show entrance and exit gates, as well as other points of interest. on the lower end, big public sports fields also would look good from the air with fields, rest rooms, parking, etc marked up with added graphics.

 

[Bartman]

I've done two 'Proof of Concept' projects. One for a private corp over cotton for plant survivability rates, and one for a university in NIR over soybeans. Both proved to be scientifically viable, but economically unreasonable. Farmers are not going to pay for acres of mapping to learn what common sense and their experience will already tell them.

also, a lot of farmers are pilots

http://www.internationalflyingfarmers.org/

with personal aircraft for surveying fields. smaller farms would be less likely to have that access but also couldn't pay a lot. horse farms, on the other hand, are a completely different demographic

 

[Mactadpole]

Pretty good article - http://www.suasnews.com/2015/10/393...ed-to-succeed-in-the-commercial-drone-market/

 

[pepper]

i do like the write up @Mactadpole but it seems that if your ether not already a big player in it or goverment granted.... it may not happen. i live in the south west arkansas and there are fields everwhere but not a lot of tech.... still playing the odds with it.

 

[Old Man]

You'd be surprised how much tech farmers are already using. I had some discussions with local cherry, pear, and apple farmers in my area about the use of multirotors or other aerial assets and to a man they agreed they currently know the cost of working their land to within $0.75/acre/season and the level of productivity. Their greatest concern was the language that would be in each years contracts with the product buyers and the prevailing market price for their fruit. With the exception of fuel, their direct costs haven't changed much in the last 5 to 10 years. It was beyond a tough sell.

 

[pepper]

yea. that makes it really hard to dump 8 grand on PIX4. lol

 

[Bartman]

You'd be surprised how much tech farmers are already using. I had some discussions with local cherry, pear, and apple farmers in my area about the use of multirotors or other aerial assets and to a man they agreed they currently know the cost of working their land to within $0.75/acre/season and the level of productivity. Their greatest concern was the language that would be in each years contracts with the product buyers and the prevailing market price for their fruit. With the exception of fuel, their direct costs haven't changed much in the last 5 to 10 years. It was beyond a tough sell.

the trick is to do your research and be able to speak their language as to what the potential weak points of their operations are and how the aerial service will protect them. i read an article about a farm with a dead spot in their irrigation system that was discovered via an aerial image from a multi-rotor helicopter. there were a few clogged water nozzles which were quickly cleared and the area recovered.

get a list of items like that and it'll help to make a sale

 

[Old Man]

Deep diving the books for that farm would likely reveal they had reduced the number of farm laborer s they were employing, which reduced the field inspections. Up side of that may be a good sell in allowing a reduction in staff that was offset in coverage and having a lower cost using aerial inspections.

 

[pepper]

you know..... when i skydive, i notice a lot of dead spots in fields. im not jumping every weekend like i use to but at least a weeknd a month. maybe i need to start paying better attention when im under canopy and pin point the fields. i could set something up with those owners.

 

[glider]

A friend of the family runs a 7000 acre farm. He hired someone to survey his fields. I don't know what exactly was done, but he said it saved him a lot of time and grunt work. He has no interest in learning to fly.

 

[pepper]

im going to dig in and studdy this and study the area. being raised on a farm, plus most of my family have large cattle farms, i think i may be able to make a decent decision.

although, being aroud rednecks, to include me, i can't count the times ive had friends want me to use my airplane so they could scout duck area's, shoot deer, etc. now that some of them know i have a sUAV, i have been asked to do the same. lol. i have went and scouted for lost cattle though. worked well.

 

[Old Man]

Nothing wrong with a hard working redneck. Most of the country would starve to death without them, and, there's nobody that looks better in a tight pair of jeans than a cow girl . Out here in the west using MR's for cattle searches could work out quite well since many herds are moved to mountain ranges and other unfenced locations for open range grazing.