I farm rice in California. I use a DJI matrice 100 for collecting imagery. Fertilizer and chemical tech needs to evolve for all this to work. Dry fertilizers applied at 100lbs/acre will be difficult for drones. Also we are still seeding via aerial application at a rate of 100-200lbs/ acre. Big planes are still necessary. Awesome tech for sure!
been using this for the PAST 2 years in Uganda, East Africa. Our Hexacopters have spraying systems 2 metres Wide , and carry 15 litres Up for 20 mins , Controlled by App, GPS by Germini , Batteries 1600 by TATTU . we dont need those initial 4 points as GPS takes care of that for us but thats a very good safety feature you go in those for people that cant fly well but can walk to the points to create WAY points . CHeers
Pretty cool to finally start seeing the applications of this awesome technology! Automation rocks. One project I've really been wanting to do is an autonomous drone that deliverers supplies once you get at the top of the mountain. That way you dont have to carry all that stuff with you.
Just watched a marathon of your videos and was dutifully impressed. Drone tech has unlimited potential for farmers. Immagine a drone system that detected blackbirds in your field and automatically went into chase mode and returned to its own charging station when done saving your crop.
LOL! I just did the same thing! I was just so shocked to find a UA-camr in my home town of Gridley I *had* to watch! The fact that the videos are interesting, funny in places, educational and compelling really helps! It's fun figuring out where he is in random locations, too.
True, I have a little experience with those too. A demonstration with the Yamaha RMAX helicopter drone was hosted by the Rice Experiment Station (in California) back in June. Here's the episode: ua-cam.com/video/DCh44woco4E/v-deo.html Thanks for dropping a message! -Matthew
That's right Jeff! It creates a very effective, even application. The drone is only about 3 feet wide but the swath (spray width is 10 feet). Very cool tool! -M.
It's actually very effective we bought a dji to spray our fields it's able to spray even under the leaves due to the prop wash. And is much more consistent than even me by hand or on our tractor.
DJI has AG specific models on their website. Most need to be purchased through a licensed Local Rep. I believe the models are AGRASMG-1 and AGRASMG-1S www.dji.com/mg-1 A TON more moving parts though....
Lou, thanks for dropping the note and I'm really happy to hear that you have been enjoying the channel. I appreciate it. I hope you have a good rest of your weekend. Take care and keep in touch! -Matthew
Hey, Matthew. Thank you so much for this amazing video of our drone. We just can not stop watching it again and again...We love the way you shooting of the drone, it shows the drone flying, spraying and landing perfectly. Again, we really appreciate your effort, thanks my man.
This is kind of cool, because it's the only battery-based drone I've heard of so far that gets *lighter* as its consumables are used up (insecticide in this case, rather than liquid fuel), so it becomes more efficient as the consumables (and battery charge) are slowly depleted. Cool!
It's really amazing indeed Patrick! This was a fun video to film. I mean just to be apart of this cutting-edge technology being introduced into the agriculture sector and more specifically rice fields is very special. Have a great week Patrick! -M.
Trump Fan this model is not a DJI but I'm definitely concerned (and you're right) that any drone, with all its moving parts, might need service or go down during a crucial time of the year. This is definitely a common growing pain when adopting new technology. Take care and thanks for dropping a line. -Matthew
As we here in New Zealand use the DJI Agras MG-1 we have yet to have any problems with the aircraft and the customer help has been very good for us (This could be because we are a larger business) the MG-1 does everything that the one in the video does even as far as the complete autonomous capability but the one in the video does look really good and seems to fly very nice and if it had terrain following like the Mg-1 it would be a strong competitor. :)
I never realized rice farming is a cool business. Now utilizing a drone to accurately spray the ricefields. That even makes it even sweeter. Hire me.....
One thing that needs to change for this kind of thing is for the FAA to certify fully autonomous use as well as give night time variances for drone operations. This way, the drones could actually cover far more land per day if they are cleared for low level flight and automatic systems recharge and reloading of pesticide. Currently, FAA requires all drone operations to be monitored. Neat demo.
Thanks for the insight 12 Wing! Do you think that will happen, the FAA certifying autonomous use, etc? Is that what Amazon would need to start delivering packages across the States?
I think ultimately it has to happen. I'm looking at what is happening with autonomous cars and it doesn't take much imagination to grasp that the same thing will happen to small aircraft. The only way forward with this, because of the numbers involved, would be to make small electric aircraft capable of short hops.. fully autonomous and operate within specified lanes in specified areas. The reality for aviation is that we simply don't have enough qualified pilots to handle the load. A similar condition exists with your application and others like the Amazon example you mentioned. There simply aren't enough qualified drone pilots to operate them and current restrictive policies don't realistically address the full benefit of using autonomous systems. For example night flying. Also, Currently the limit on the size is 55lbs. For things like quick rescue.. sending a large drone in where no one would send a helicopter.. in weather where no human piloted helicopter could possibly fly.. a larger drone is needed. So it will be interesting to see how the FAA deals with these issues without causing our innovators here to be once again outpaced by other countries who are looking at this more realistically.
Yup, that rice field is just off Gridley-Colusa Highway about 10 minutes West of Gridley but still in Butte County. Where did your grandpa have a rice farm? -Matthew
Rice Farming TV End of W Liberty Rd. next to Gray Lodge Wildlife Area. Lots of memories there. I used to scare of blackbirds with a 22 during a couple summers. Cool to see your channel, you got a sub from me.
Thank you for the support! Wow, that's right about where this footage was taken from. We have a tough time with the blackbirds coming out of the refuge. It's beautiful to farm around there though.
Organic agriculture is the way to go!! All automated with minor jobs and all human beens can be feed! (As far as we don't give them to animals, remember we eat about 1kg they eat about 60kg, to don't talk about the water and unnecessary suffering) Great video, all the best guys!
I wish you were both wrong! It's my dream to be an ag pilot in Puerto Rico. While the technology is awesome, being a pilot makes it hard for me to accept.
This looks like it was filmed close to me. My area is the largest producer of rice in California and that looks like the Sutter Buttes in the background
Before Juan Brown, all I cared about rice was it attracts waterfowl for hunting. I see there is much more to it and very interesting. I'm hooked. Subscribed.
Steve, thanks for dropping a note! I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying the channel and interested in rice. Do you hunt in the northern Sacramento valley? Geese and ducks I take it? -Matthew
Off the drone topic; How about a tour through Sweco Products (Sutter) & MetalWorks (Oroville) where they're making farm implements? Price a John Deere harvester in Biggs. Follow rice hulls into animal feed? Buy another burrito at Casa Lupe & show the long line. Great food !
Wow, thank you Daniel. I really appreciate the message. All this rice farming and filming is fun for me so it's literally my pleasure. Have a great weekend! -M.
BadWallaby I agree. It's just a lot of fun getting your hands on this cutting edge tech. Rice farming just keeps getting more interesting. Take care! -Matthew
Hi! Wow, that is amazing. I'd love to hear more about them & if they are available in Australia? And great work on Rice Farming TV, I heard you on The Shark Farmer podcast ages ago & I drop in on a very irregular basis to see what is happening. So awesome!
Meg, I was mentioned on the Shark Farmer Podcast?! That's awesome. I didn't know that! These drones are made in China and can be shipped anywhere. The cost is around 40k US$ for everything that you saw in the video. So they are an investment. I really appreciate you dropping a line and saying what's up. I appreciate it Meg! Take care. -Matthew
Thanks! Well, I think that's where I heard about you?? Or was it Tim Hammerich's podcast? Can the guys behind the drone drop me an email about it? I really like the modular design of just being able to drop the spray tank & battery in real quick and then while its out spraying, getting the next batch ready. Are you using one in your operation? Thanks Matthew!!
Absolutely Meg, you can e-mail me at matthew@ricefarmingtv.com and I can forward it on. Yeah, you probably heard about me from Tim's podcast. I was on The Future of Agriculture Podcast. Yeah, the system is smooth if you have low use rates or low acreage. What's even cooler for larger operations you can have multiple drones operating withing the same system, aware of each other, covering more ground. Right now I am not using it in our operation but next year I hope to. We just came in contact after the "spray season" for rice. Hope you hear from you soon! -M.
I think the down side of that system is that u have to walk in to the field to mark the points , u can just use mission planner or tower app and u can mark the points from ur phone ,tablet etc ...
I think both have a grand potential in agriculture. It seems as if the technology is here already...it just needs to be bigger or not cost prohibitive. I would love to see a self driving tractor do all the ground work in the spring and harvest in the fall! Have a great week Adrian! Let's keep on dreaming! -M.
Very interesting. Would probably do everything we want being a subsistence rice grower is SEA where our paddies are smaller and odd sized. But can imagine the cost would be prohibitive for us.
Hi pseacraft! I'm glad you found this episode interesting. Yes, the total package in quite expensive. Maybe if it's cost prohibitive to a single grower a businessman could invest in one and provide the service to multiple farmers.
Totally agreed, David. If you consider a drone a robot or comprised of elements that make a robot then this type of technology will change farming both on land and air. Self-driving tractors, self-irrigating water systems, machines that can remove weeds and plant seeds. It's an interesting time as the sea-change continues. -Matthew
...sorry to be annoying, but the constant micro cuts to phased video & pumped music really get in the way of your content. To me, it is unprofessional and dumbed down fluff. Thank you, though, for your time, delivery, great information & insights : )
MIND BLOWN! What about the economics?, gotta be cheaper than Ag Cats, but is there a size tradeoff where it's still cheaper with aircraft ( huge fields?). Will current Ag flying services adopt this technology, or are farmers considering buying this equipment themselves? Fascinating!
Hi，Blancolilirio. You really got some points here. Drones are suppose to replace the crop dusters. One Ag cats usually cost 1 to 1.4 millon and also the cost to get a pilot license, airport fee and the maintance is also expensive. Those cost can buy arround 30 units drones. each drone can cover arround 100 acres per day. imagine 30 will goes to where? The drones have been in a mass spraying service in China already. The record in this sunmmer in China is 150 Acres a day. drones flying and maintaince cheap. and easy to learn how to operate. It does not need an airport. Most important is that use a drone to spray can save the consume of water and chemicals sharply. two weeks ago we did a weeds control experiment on a rice field in Yuba City. we use total 5 gallon liquid for a 4 acres area and the result is good. Usually crop duster use 10 gallons water per acre. How much cost will save for a farmer? I think the current Ag flyinh services may think about it seriously. The drone's price is also acceptable for farmers themself.
Thanks for the message Juan and I'm glad Kevin could give you some insight. It costs about $12-$14 and acre for the crop-duster to fly on material. I think current Ag Flying services will have to adopt this technology in the near future. Something similar occurred when fly zones shrank when surrounding sensitive crops were damaged due to drift--most flying services added on the ground-rig spraying service. Kevin's drone is certainly cost effective for the farmer to own his own. Maintenance of the equipment might be a deterrent for early adopters. Hope you're well man! -Matthew
Rice Farming TV : So, it looks great. Seriously. In our place, we use manual labour with back pack machine sprayer. It normally cost USD 15 per 3 acres just for labour only. Can the drone beat this price? We are in Malaysia.
This is a start. It wouldn't work for my friend who has 8,000 acres of rice in South Texas. They still use crop dusters to cover that much land. The technology is moving forward as a break-neck speed !
15 mins of battery life? How long does it take to charge? Would you not need 3-4 batteries and chargers ready? Also I am curious, what sized and type of farm would this drone be truly beneficial where it would make financial sense to replace a crop duster or alternate spraying methods ?
OK. I have now finished all 44 videos in one marathon session. Whew! We should get together sometime and have a little chat. I have some rice recipes I could give you and you might like to meet my son, too. He's got some technical experience with video production and you might be able to help each other in some way.
Wow! Wow! Wow! calichef1962! I want to reply directly to your comments on my other videos when I have time but just quickly I want to say thank you for the positivity and enthusiasm. Please send me an e-mail when you get a chance so that I can share with you my phone number and we (including your son) can chat about all the possibilities we have in the near future! Take care and enjoy your weekend. matthew@ricefarmingtv.com -Matthew
Rice Farming TV, I have noticed that the video was posted few months ago. I would like to know if you are still operating the drone for your farm now and I also would like to know that how did you measure the spraying results. Thanks, Yucheng.
Oh awesome! Yes we definitely grow rice here in California and across much of the southern United States. The drone platform is very impressive. Thanks for dropping a line! -Matthew
do you have a video about the necessity of using herbicide? why you choose to use it? whether it is possible to grow rice without it? if not will you make one? are you a casey neistat fan?
I have a question. Who is responsible for wind drift when crop spraying? It seems some would drift onto adjoining property or other unintended places. Thank you.
Thank you Steve. It is a good question. Drifting is a problem when use aircraft doing spray job. The UAV fly height is arround 1.5m above the crops. The propeller caused air flow can push the liquid down to the crop to reduce the risk of drifting. Also aircraft working in a certain conditions. When the wind speed goes to 6-8m/s or above it is not a suitable condition for drones to work. It is better to stop till weather changed.
Hi Steve, I think you're asking this question in a general sense. It is a group effort avoiding drift. PCAs (Pest Control Advisors) will not write a recommendation for a chemical that would be used on a crop too close to sensitive areas. The County Ag Commissioner has set boundaries and created a "no-fly" zone where pest applications must be administrated by ground (to avoid drift). Companies have use-guidelines that must be met (wind restrictions and droplet size). So everyone involved is working together to assure pest applications get solely to the target. I suppose if a problem were to occur the individual farmer would be at fault if it could be traced back (difficult). But the entire rice industry could be reprimanded if the chemical was banned due to irresponsible applications. This is a great question that could be greatly elaborated on...but this is basically it.
Thanks. That's just something I had never thought about before. It sounds to me like drone application is a win win. Minimize drift, spray more completely, use less chemical, and maybe cheaper in the long run. Technology is a wonderful thing. Thank you for doing these videos, they are educational.
2 things ... would it make more sense to fly in an oval or "Maze"(?),pattern? That way the drone's time needed to align for the next run would then be used for spraying in a more continuous manner. Also, I think most states now have publicly available, pretty accurate geo-referenced aerials and LIDAR. as such that you could probably pre-flight the pathway design and the elevations(if needed), as you need. Generally I have found the Northing/N Latitude and Easting/W Longitude accurate(on a computer program), to about 1/4 foot ... a little more off at the outside limits.
Wouldn't it make sense to use an RC plane instead? Then your not chewing up so much battery just to stay aloft, the wings create the lift instead of having 4 motors running so hard the entire time. Longer/wider wings would make for more payload. Pretty cool to see a roomba take flight though. I'm still amazed every time our Neato Botvac D5 vacuum cleans the house. I just sit and watch it in amazement... like ours cats. LOL
Haha! Brian that's hilarious. We have a iRobot Roomba at home and I just stare at it too. This ag drone is not very practical for large acreage applications as you are suggesting. It was a novelty toy but also a glimpse into the very near future. Have you seen the Yamaha Rmax RC Helicopter? I did a video on one of those too. -Matthew
-M, Glad to see you on blancolirio, great work on both your parts. I'll be changing the site in the next few days, removing a lot of areas, so I can get back to the areas I want to spend more time on. maybe work on making a little money to help pay for the site, and add more stuff maybe get into more Siskiyou County News. have a great day jesse
I will be keeping the two of you up on the site, farming and the Oroville Dam , the other Vloggers will be removed, and some other News area are to be removed, I want to get down to about a half or a third of what I have now! hope to spend more time on the area I like to cover. jesse
How long does it take to charge the batteries and how many do you need to have in the field for a days work? Do you use a generator to recharge while in the field and if so how many watts does it need to be?
Steven, unfortunately this system is to practical for, I would say, any operation above 20-30 acres. So we are only using it in very specific cases of our operation. Each rice field is about 150 acres and crop-dusters are much more effective. You need 3 batteries to keep one drone always moving. You can have three drones working simultaneously though. -M.
Hey, I have two questions and it would be really important, because I am having the same project in 10th grade. 1. How did you program the drone's chip? (how did you access it) Or did you built the drone? (using arduino?) 2. How do you detect the weed? Infrared cameras or something else? because they are very expensive... Thanks in advance
Do these guys do a non-sprayer version with extra long flight time to chase birds off crops? Preferably even down to the point of landing on a proximity charger so it will just go out and fly bird runs all day if required with no human interference? Thanks Riceman!
Gavin now that would be an excellent real world application for such a drone. We're battling black birds as I type. We've got our truck horns, shotguns and zon guns (boom canons). I know some guys have their camera drones that do what your suggesting manually--but more as a novelty. I'll look it to this and get back to you because it would be amazing! It would save me some evenings of stress. Take care! -Matthew
Yes, in Austrlia when we sow any number of grain crops we loose a huge amount to birds and then during say the rice growing season then we have a duck problem. Farmers dont have time to do work and pest management. Personally I cant wait for more manned drones and have a concept design for one but our current laws here in Oz wont even let you fly (it would just be steering a drone that would control parameters o stop you dying) it under 5m or whatever, we need some relaxed laws so we can at least round out animals on Cattle/sheep stations that have large amount of territory to cover. - Gavin
a DJI phantom 3 ( 18 mins ) or Phantom 4 ( 26 mins ) can do this for u , its autonomously controlled to using your phone ,uou just sit and watch, i do this in Africa on Rice Farms , set 5 Drones up, create Flight paths at different altitudes and take some Cocaine / Weed Cake as i watch them rally around
Jeff Mulongo do you have proximity charging I asked for Jeff? Labor is to expensive here to run those systems with a person to watch and charge them all season.
wonder how difficult it is t change the battery.. if this is just hoovering in one spot how long would the battery last. Are there extended batteries? Able to solar recharge?
Hi Craig, the downward thrust doest affect the pattern, in fact it assists coverage as pushes the application down across the plant--also preventing lateral drift. Also yes, it could be used to scare away blackbirds and that's a great point. I just would hate to hit one and it take down a $40k piece of super sweet equipment! Have a great Friday Craig. Take care! -Matthew
Matthew, I've have had some success chasing starlings off of vineyards using inexpensive ( $1500 ) drones. Primarily we were using falcons and pyrotechnic to get the job done, but the drone would scare them also, and for the most part they would flee before any close contact. Mind you we were only protecting 200 ac of grapes. Having a great Friday
This is a great point! It's true...those birds would be on the move before the drone got too close. Afraid of the noise more than the sight. We use Zon guns (boom canons run on propane) and firing shotgun shell blasts into the air (not aiming for them). It's tedious on 1,600 acres of rice. And tis the season unfortunately.
They have RC Helicopters that do the same and run much longer per flight. They might be fine for very small micro farms but not for larger areas. That's one of the failures of the RC Heli's that were designed to do the same and have been out for years.
Matthew, the low flight path looks like it would also minimize herbicide/pesticide drift. Is this true? If so, add it to the long list of benefits. Beautiful video as usual!
Thanks for the message Professor Bayham! Yes, you're right! drift is certainly minimized with the low flight path. This is why the ground-rig spraying business is so viable because many California rice acres are out of the "fly zone" for specific herbicides. It's a 4 mile radius around walnuts. So crop-dusters can drift a bit. And a minuscule micron can create a dead walnut leaf. Wont kill the tree but it's not pretty. Keep in touch professor! -M.
Thanks for your attention Professor Bayham. Actually, the size of the liquid drops can be adjusted from 80 to 120 in Micron grade. And the downside airflow caused by the propeller can push them all over the plant.
Cool, Do you remember Jerry's Restaurant, down your way, My family started them, and sold all of them in 87', the one thing I remember about that restaurant was how low the sign out front was, The things you think of , wow! history . Yes my dad was Jerry.
+Jesse Goucher-- I have very fond memories of Jerry's Gridley restaurant. I miss it terribly! What is there now just isn't as good and it's not open 24 hours, which I really miss.
I farm rice in California. I use a DJI matrice 100 for collecting imagery. Fertilizer and chemical tech needs to evolve for all this to work. Dry fertilizers applied at 100lbs/acre will be difficult for drones. Also we are still seeding via aerial application at a rate of 100-200lbs/ acre. Big planes are still necessary. Awesome tech for sure!
been using this for the PAST 2 years in Uganda, East Africa. Our Hexacopters have spraying systems 2 metres Wide , and carry 15 litres Up for 20 mins , Controlled by App, GPS by Germini , Batteries 1600 by TATTU . we dont need those initial 4 points as GPS takes care of that for us but thats a very good safety feature you go in those for people that cant fly well but can walk to the points to create WAY points . CHeers
Pretty cool to finally start seeing the applications of this awesome technology! Automation rocks. One project I've really been wanting to do is an autonomous drone that deliverers supplies once you get at the top of the mountain. That way you dont have to carry all that stuff with you.
how has that worked out for you?
Just watched a marathon of your videos and was dutifully impressed. Drone tech has unlimited potential for farmers. Immagine a drone system that detected blackbirds in your field and automatically went into chase mode and returned to its own charging station when done saving your crop.
LOL! I just did the same thing! I was just so shocked to find a UA-camr in my home town of Gridley I *had* to watch! The fact that the videos are interesting, funny in places, educational and compelling really helps! It's fun figuring out where he is in random locations, too.
That is a really a fresh ideal of drone application..
Awesome! Japanese farmers have been using gas powered r/c helicopters to spray for decades, it's nice to see it here in the US.
True, I have a little experience with those too. A demonstration with the Yamaha RMAX helicopter drone was hosted by the Rice Experiment Station (in California) back in June. Here's the episode: ua-cam.com/video/DCh44woco4E/v-deo.html
Thanks for dropping a message!
-Matthew
The drone would work perfect for rice pollination. Message me.
Looks like the down wash from the props help push the spray through the rice
That's right Jeff! It creates a very effective, even application. The drone is only about 3 feet wide but the swath (spray width is 10 feet). Very cool tool!
-M.
It's actually very effective we bought a dji to spray our fields it's able to spray even under the leaves due to the prop wash. And is much more consistent than even me by hand or on our tractor.
Fpv Eh what's the DJI Model you have? And if you don't mind me asking, how much was it? Thank you!
-Matthew
DJI has AG specific models on their website. Most need to be purchased through a licensed Local Rep. I believe the models are AGRASMG-1 and AGRASMG-1S www.dji.com/mg-1 A TON more moving parts though....
Jeff Driver I
Thank you for your video, Matthew. We are also a Agricultural drone manufacture. It's so glad to see your amazing presentation.
Sinochip Drone biutifull
Thank you for your comment. Are you also majoring in that, my friend?
That is the XAG P30 crop protection drone used for both seeding and crod dusting. I like the multi-dual functionality of this drone.
Another viewer via Juan Brown here, and caught up over the weekend. Just dropping a note to say I appreciate this channel immensely, thank you!
Lou, thanks for dropping the note and I'm really happy to hear that you have been enjoying the channel. I appreciate it. I hope you have a good rest of your weekend. Take care and keep in touch!
-Matthew
Hey, Matthew. Thank you so much for this amazing video of our drone. We just can not stop watching it again and again...We love the way you shooting of the drone, it shows the drone flying, spraying and landing perfectly. Again, we really appreciate your effort, thanks my man.
Kevin, that was a lot of fun. I'm happy to be on the edge of cutting technology! I'm glad we finally made it happen.
-M.
Reminds me of my hometown. Sacramento. Rice patties galore.
Yeah, this field is in the northern Sacramento Valley between Gridley and Colusa, Aaron.
-Matthew
This is kind of cool, because it's the only battery-based drone I've heard of so far that gets *lighter* as its consumables are used up (insecticide in this case, rather than liquid fuel), so it becomes more efficient as the consumables (and battery charge) are slowly depleted.
Cool!
I am amaze of this drone tech in agriculture. Absolutely fascinating to see this baby fly! What a great video Matthew!
It's really amazing indeed Patrick! This was a fun video to film. I mean just to be apart of this cutting-edge technology being introduced into the agriculture sector and more specifically rice fields is very special. Have a great week Patrick!
-M.
Trump Fan this model is not a DJI but I'm definitely concerned (and you're right) that any drone, with all its moving parts, might need service or go down during a crucial time of the year. This is definitely a common growing pain when adopting new technology. Take care and thanks for dropping a line.
-Matthew
As we here in New Zealand use the DJI Agras MG-1 we have yet to have any problems with the aircraft and the customer help has been very good for us (This could be because we are a larger business) the MG-1 does everything that the one in the video does even as far as the complete autonomous capability but the one in the video does look really good and seems to fly very nice and if it had terrain following like the Mg-1 it would be a strong competitor. :)
Patrick A. Cavanaugh yeah bro and its Chinese technology .
it has terrain following like fly model on their new models.
I never realized rice farming is a cool business. Now utilizing a drone to accurately spray the ricefields. That even makes it even sweeter. Hire me.....
Kevin and Juan 2 best channels. Solid info.
This will be a great help to the community
That's a great way to look at it Kalvin and I think you're right. Have a good rest of the weekend.
-Matthew
Drone tech for AG has huge potential. It's coming....
What a beast of a drone
Total beast, my man!
-Matthew
One thing that needs to change for this kind of thing is for the FAA to certify fully autonomous use as well as give night time variances for drone operations.
This way, the drones could actually cover far more land per day if they are cleared for low level flight and automatic systems recharge and reloading of pesticide.
Currently, FAA requires all drone operations to be monitored. Neat demo.
Thanks for the insight 12 Wing! Do you think that will happen, the FAA certifying autonomous use, etc? Is that what Amazon would need to start delivering packages across the States?
I think ultimately it has to happen. I'm looking at what is happening with autonomous cars and it doesn't take much imagination to grasp that the same thing will happen to small aircraft.
The only way forward with this, because of the numbers involved, would be to make small electric aircraft capable of short hops.. fully autonomous and operate within specified lanes in specified areas.
The reality for aviation is that we simply don't have enough qualified pilots to handle the load.
A similar condition exists with your application and others like the Amazon example you mentioned. There simply aren't enough qualified drone pilots to operate them and current restrictive policies don't realistically address the full benefit of using autonomous systems. For example night flying.
Also, Currently the limit on the size is 55lbs. For things like quick rescue.. sending a large drone in where no one would send a helicopter.. in weather where no human piloted helicopter could possibly fly.. a larger drone is needed.
So it will be interesting to see how the FAA deals with these issues without causing our innovators here to be once again outpaced by other countries who are looking at this more realistically.
Amazing video. Thanks to Juan for directing some of his subscribers here. The potential for drones is simply amazing.
That’s a pretty big bad ass drone!
Looks like the Buttes in the background. My grandpa used to have a rice farm/duck club in Gridley.
Yup, that rice field is just off Gridley-Colusa Highway about 10 minutes West of Gridley but still in Butte County. Where did your grandpa have a rice farm?
-Matthew
Rice Farming TV End of W Liberty Rd. next to Gray Lodge Wildlife Area. Lots of memories there. I used to scare of blackbirds with a 22 during a couple summers. Cool to see your channel, you got a sub from me.
Thank you for the support! Wow, that's right about where this footage was taken from. We have a tough time with the blackbirds coming out of the refuge. It's beautiful to farm around there though.
Organic agriculture is the way to go!! All automated with minor jobs and all human beens can be feed! (As far as we don't give them to animals, remember we eat about 1kg they eat about 60kg, to don't talk about the water and unnecessary suffering)
Great video, all the best guys!
Awesome! While others are fooling around with wedding videos, your doing weeding videos.
Ha! That's great, CM! I'm glad you enjoyed and thank you for the cool message.
-Matthew
This is the future. From PUERTO RICO ISLAND.
Totally agreed Justino! Greetings from California.
-Matthew
I wish you were both wrong! It's my dream to be an ag pilot in Puerto Rico. While the technology is awesome, being a pilot makes it hard for me to accept.
Thank you for farming and growing rice.
This looks like it was filmed close to me. My area is the largest producer of rice in California and that looks like the Sutter Buttes in the background
Before Juan Brown, all I cared about rice was it attracts waterfowl for hunting. I see there is much more to it and very interesting. I'm hooked. Subscribed.
Steve, thanks for dropping a note! I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying the channel and interested in rice. Do you hunt in the northern Sacramento valley? Geese and ducks I take it?
-Matthew
Yes, Matthew. I hunt the Thermalito Afterbay and a private ranch west of Gridley for waterfowl. I live in Eureka. Keep up the wonderful videos.
Nice, then we hang out in the same neck of the woods. Thanks for the encouragement and keep in touch! Happy Friday!
-M.
Off the drone topic; How about a tour through Sweco Products (Sutter) & MetalWorks (Oroville) where they're making farm implements? Price a John Deere harvester in Biggs. Follow rice hulls into animal feed? Buy another burrito at Casa Lupe & show the long line. Great food !
Well thought out and engineered software...
Runs very smooth after mapping the field Joe. Take care!
-Matthew
That's awesome!!🌾
Thanks Joe! Pretty cool future we have ahead of us in the rice industry!
-M.
Amazing stuff! Love the work you do! Thanks for the rice.....
Wow, thank you Daniel. I really appreciate the message. All this rice farming and filming is fun for me so it's literally my pleasure. Have a great weekend!
-M.
Wowww very nice technology for farmers
Just AWESOME !
Thank you Rafael! Happy new year!
-M.
That Is incredible!
BadWallaby I agree. It's just a lot of fun getting your hands on this cutting edge tech. Rice farming just keeps getting more interesting. Take care!
-Matthew
I'm only here because Juan sent me. :-)
Great channel!
I live in North San Diego County. No rice down here, just citrus and avocados.
P20 is not only for rice. Actually we sprayed a lot of fruit trees like citrus. P20 has a special mode for fruit trees.
This is brilliant....
Thank you, Simon!
-Matthew
Hi! Wow, that is amazing. I'd love to hear more about them & if they are available in Australia? And great work on Rice Farming TV, I heard you on The Shark Farmer podcast ages ago & I drop in on a very irregular basis to see what is happening. So awesome!
Meg, I was mentioned on the Shark Farmer Podcast?! That's awesome. I didn't know that! These drones are made in China and can be shipped anywhere. The cost is around 40k US$ for everything that you saw in the video. So they are an investment. I really appreciate you dropping a line and saying what's up. I appreciate it Meg! Take care.
-Matthew
Thanks! Well, I think that's where I heard about you?? Or was it Tim Hammerich's podcast? Can the guys behind the drone drop me an email about it? I really like the modular design of just being able to drop the spray tank & battery in real quick and then while its out spraying, getting the next batch ready. Are you using one in your operation? Thanks Matthew!!
Absolutely Meg, you can e-mail me at matthew@ricefarmingtv.com and I can forward it on. Yeah, you probably heard about me from Tim's podcast. I was on The Future of Agriculture Podcast. Yeah, the system is smooth if you have low use rates or low acreage. What's even cooler for larger operations you can have multiple drones operating withing the same system, aware of each other, covering more ground. Right now I am not using it in our operation but next year I hope to. We just came in contact after the "spray season" for rice. Hope you hear from you soon!
-M.
Now all we need is invent a robots farmers to work on the field while we busy watching TV on the couch! 😛😛😛
the future is here cheers
Yes! Take care Ziggy.
-M.
Awesome. Music soundtrack was goofy but pretty awesome product.
Thank you! A lot of people didn't like the music much. :( But thanks for the message.
-Matthew
Dude, makes me wanna chow down on some dirty rice!! Awesome vid!!
Thanks bro! What's your recipe for dirty rice?
-Matthew
blancolirio mentioned you though i would see what you were about interesting never thought about how rice was grown looking forward to your next film
I think the down side of that system is that u have to walk in to the field to mark the points , u can just use mission planner or tower app and u can mark the points from ur phone ,tablet etc ...
Amazing. Once a new batter cell is invented who knows where this type of tech will go.
This is awesome
Yeah, it's a real fun little toy! Take care Ebrima.
-Matthew
I think drones will have some capabilities in farming applications, but I think autonomous vehicles will be used more for direct application
I think both have a grand potential in agriculture. It seems as if the technology is here already...it just needs to be bigger or not cost prohibitive. I would love to see a self driving tractor do all the ground work in the spring and harvest in the fall! Have a great week Adrian! Let's keep on dreaming!
-M.
Nice video, thank you for share. Pretty cool stuff!!
Very interesting. Would probably do everything we want being a subsistence rice grower is SEA where our paddies are smaller and odd sized. But can imagine the cost would be prohibitive for us.
Hi pseacraft! I'm glad you found this episode interesting. Yes, the total package in quite expensive. Maybe if it's cost prohibitive to a single grower a businessman could invest in one and provide the service to multiple farmers.
what a cool mussic
this will revolutionize farming
Totally agreed, David. If you consider a drone a robot or comprised of elements that make a robot then this type of technology will change farming both on land and air. Self-driving tractors, self-irrigating water systems, machines that can remove weeds and plant seeds. It's an interesting time as the sea-change continues.
-Matthew
...sorry to be annoying, but the constant micro cuts to phased video & pumped music really get in the way of your content. To me, it is unprofessional and dumbed down fluff. Thank you, though, for your time, delivery, great information & insights : )
MIND BLOWN! What about the economics?, gotta be cheaper than Ag Cats, but is there a size tradeoff where it's still cheaper with aircraft ( huge fields?). Will current Ag flying services adopt this technology, or are farmers considering buying this equipment themselves? Fascinating!
Hi，Blancolilirio. You really got some points here. Drones are suppose to replace the crop dusters. One Ag cats usually cost 1 to 1.4 millon and also the cost to get a pilot license, airport fee and the maintance is also expensive. Those cost can buy arround 30 units drones. each drone can cover arround 100 acres per day. imagine 30 will goes to where? The drones have been in a mass spraying service in China already. The record in this sunmmer in China is 150 Acres a day. drones flying and maintaince cheap. and easy to learn how to operate. It does not need an airport. Most important is that use a drone to spray can save the consume of water and chemicals sharply. two weeks ago we did a weeds control experiment on a rice field in Yuba City. we use total 5 gallon liquid for a 4 acres area and the result is good. Usually crop duster use 10 gallons water per acre. How much cost will save for a farmer? I think the current Ag flyinh services may think about it seriously. The drone's price is also acceptable for farmers themself.
Thanks for the message Juan and I'm glad Kevin could give you some insight. It costs about $12-$14 and acre for the crop-duster to fly on material. I think current Ag Flying services will have to adopt this technology in the near future. Something similar occurred when fly zones shrank when surrounding sensitive crops were damaged due to drift--most flying services added on the ground-rig spraying service. Kevin's drone is certainly cost effective for the farmer to own his own. Maintenance of the equipment might be a deterrent for early adopters. Hope you're well man!
-Matthew
ho kevin
Rice Farming TV : So, it looks great. Seriously. In our place, we use manual labour with back pack machine sprayer. It normally cost USD 15 per 3 acres just for labour only. Can the drone beat this price? We are in Malaysia.
What is he price for the drones ? Mind to share more videos about it system control ??
This is a start.
It wouldn't work for my friend who has 8,000 acres of rice in South Texas.
They still use crop dusters to cover that much land.
The technology is moving forward as a break-neck speed !
Really awesome. Greetings from Andreas on Off Grid Sweden 🇸🇪
Awesome
I liked your proffesionalism
Who doesn't like cool technology?
It's just so much fun! Be well Mr. Fletcher.
-M.
15 mins of battery life? How long does it take to charge? Would you not need 3-4 batteries and chargers ready? Also I am curious, what sized and type of farm would this drone be truly beneficial where it would make financial sense to replace a crop duster or alternate spraying methods ?
Hi Mukthi, great questions. I’m including some answers in my next episode. Thank you.
-Matthew
@@RicefarmingtvHi Matthew, I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you.
Kevin the Charles, love it.
Just listen to this massive drone take off! No wait, never mind, were going to play some music instead.
good video, but i really wanted to hear it.
OK. I have now finished all 44 videos in one marathon session. Whew! We should get together sometime and have a little chat. I have some rice recipes I could give you and you might like to meet my son, too. He's got some technical experience with video production and you might be able to help each other in some way.
Wow! Wow! Wow! calichef1962! I want to reply directly to your comments on my other videos when I have time but just quickly I want to say thank you for the positivity and enthusiasm. Please send me an e-mail when you get a chance so that I can share with you my phone number and we (including your son) can chat about all the possibilities we have in the near future! Take care and enjoy your weekend. matthew@ricefarmingtv.com
-Matthew
yes please share recipes for rice....I'd like to see those too!
Cool 😎
Thanks Polz! Have a good week.
-Matthew
Nice
Thanks Adish!
-M.
Rice Farming TV, I have noticed that the video was posted few months ago. I would like to know if you are still operating the drone for your farm now and I also would like to know that how did you measure the spraying results. Thanks, Yucheng.
omg how cool is this! : O
I agree, pretty cool! Thanks for the message.
-Matthew
Absolutely love this, definitely one of the best looking crop spraying platforms I've seen. Plus I didn't know there were rice farms in America! 😊
Oh awesome! Yes we definitely grow rice here in California and across much of the southern United States. The drone platform is very impressive. Thanks for dropping a line!
-Matthew
There is a lot of rice farming going on in the south. Worked on a farm in Arkansas, which is the biggest rice producing state in the US
That's amazing!
Thanks Todd. It's a lot of fun and definitely an interesting time in the drone/ag industry. Take care.
-Matthew
DJI app has the ability to map routes so surveyor wouldn’t be required, and they have a very high end agriculture drone as well
Rice farming has never been so cool. Until now.
Thank you! That's a really cool message.
-Matthew
do you have a video about the necessity of using herbicide? why you choose to use it? whether it is possible to grow rice without it? if not will you make one? are you a casey neistat fan?
Super.
I have a question. Who is responsible for wind drift when crop spraying? It seems some would drift onto adjoining property or other unintended places. Thank you.
Thank you Steve. It is a good question. Drifting is a problem when use aircraft doing spray job. The UAV fly height is arround 1.5m above the crops. The propeller caused air flow can push the liquid down to the crop to reduce the risk of drifting. Also aircraft working in a certain conditions. When the wind speed goes to 6-8m/s or above it is not a suitable condition for drones to work. It is better to stop till weather changed.
Hi Steve, I think you're asking this question in a general sense. It is a group effort avoiding drift. PCAs (Pest Control Advisors) will not write a recommendation for a chemical that would be used on a crop too close to sensitive areas. The County Ag Commissioner has set boundaries and created a "no-fly" zone where pest applications must be administrated by ground (to avoid drift). Companies have use-guidelines that must be met (wind restrictions and droplet size). So everyone involved is working together to assure pest applications get solely to the target. I suppose if a problem were to occur the individual farmer would be at fault if it could be traced back (difficult). But the entire rice industry could be reprimanded if the chemical was banned due to irresponsible applications. This is a great question that could be greatly elaborated on...but this is basically it.
Thanks. That's just something I had never thought about before. It sounds to me like drone application is a win win. Minimize drift, spray more completely, use less chemical, and maybe cheaper in the long run. Technology is a wonderful thing. Thank you for doing these videos, they are educational.
2 things ... would it make more sense to fly in an oval or "Maze"(?),pattern? That way the drone's time needed to align for the next run would then be used for spraying in a more continuous manner.
Also, I think most states now have publicly available, pretty accurate geo-referenced aerials and LIDAR. as such that you could probably pre-flight the pathway design and the elevations(if needed), as you need.
Generally I have found the Northing/N Latitude and Easting/W Longitude accurate(on a computer program), to about 1/4 foot ... a little more off at the outside limits.
awesome!!!
That is amazing! Farming has advanced tremendously! Great video! I subscribed. Saw you on blancolirio's channel! Amazing!! Watching from So. Cal. 🦋🦋🦋
That's amazing technology!
Some farmer will use it as lending nothing buying it.
Please choose one volume level and stick to it
Wouldn't it make sense to use an RC plane instead? Then your not chewing up so much battery just to stay aloft, the wings create the lift instead of having 4 motors running so hard the entire time. Longer/wider wings would make for more payload. Pretty cool to see a roomba take flight though. I'm still amazed every time our Neato Botvac D5 vacuum cleans the house. I just sit and watch it in amazement... like ours cats. LOL
Haha! Brian that's hilarious. We have a iRobot Roomba at home and I just stare at it too. This ag drone is not very practical for large acreage applications as you are suggesting. It was a novelty toy but also a glimpse into the very near future. Have you seen the Yamaha Rmax RC Helicopter? I did a video on one of those too.
-Matthew
Good
Thanks Neeraj!
-Matthew
Gas-powered remote control helicopters r used here in Japan. Been going on for decades, but there is much less acreage per farmer.
Its is a good pice of technology .....
-M, Glad to see you on blancolirio, great work on both your parts. I'll be changing the site in the next few days, removing a lot of areas, so I can get back to the areas I want to spend more time on. maybe work on making a little money to help pay for the site, and add more stuff maybe get into more Siskiyou County News. have a great day jesse
I will be keeping the two of you up on the site, farming and the Oroville Dam , the other Vloggers will be removed, and some other News area are to be removed, I want to get down to about a half or a third of what I have now! hope to spend more time on the area I like to cover. jesse
So what is the difference/advantage of using this drone as apposed to using the DJI MG-1S?
Looks like a great job if you don't mind dealing with cancer causing chemicals all day.
It's a closed refilling system, Stephan.
-M.
How long does it take to charge the batteries and how many do you need to have in the field for a days work? Do you use a generator to recharge while in the field and if so how many watts does it need to be?
Steven, unfortunately this system is to practical for, I would say, any operation above 20-30 acres. So we are only using it in very specific cases of our operation. Each rice field is about 150 acres and crop-dusters are much more effective. You need 3 batteries to keep one drone always moving. You can have three drones working simultaneously though.
-M.
Hey, I have two questions and it would be really important, because I am having the same project in 10th grade.
1. How did you program the drone's chip? (how did you access it) Or did you built the drone? (using arduino?)
2. How do you detect the weed? Infrared cameras or something else? because they are very expensive...
Thanks in advance
Simple cool
Do these guys do a non-sprayer version with extra long flight time to chase birds off crops? Preferably even down to the point of landing on a proximity charger so it will just go out and fly bird runs all day if required with no human interference? Thanks Riceman!
Gavin now that would be an excellent real world application for such a drone. We're battling black birds as I type. We've got our truck horns, shotguns and zon guns (boom canons). I know some guys have their camera drones that do what your suggesting manually--but more as a novelty. I'll look it to this and get back to you because it would be amazing! It would save me some evenings of stress. Take care!
-Matthew
Yes, in Austrlia when we sow any number of grain crops we loose a huge amount to birds and then during say the rice growing season then we have a duck problem. Farmers dont have time to do work and pest management.
Personally I cant wait for more manned drones and have a concept design for one but our current laws here in Oz wont even let you fly (it would just be steering a drone that would control parameters o stop you dying) it under 5m or whatever, we need some relaxed laws so we can at least round out animals on Cattle/sheep stations that have large amount of territory to cover.
- Gavin
a DJI phantom 3 ( 18 mins ) or Phantom 4 ( 26 mins ) can do this for u , its autonomously controlled to using your phone ,uou just sit and watch, i do this in Africa on Rice Farms , set 5 Drones up, create Flight paths at different altitudes and take some Cocaine / Weed Cake as i watch them rally around
Jeff Mulongo do you have proximity charging I asked for Jeff? Labor is to expensive here to run those systems with a person to watch and charge them all season.
the
guy is a moron and is just pulling your leg.
wonder how difficult it is t change the battery.. if this is just hoovering in one spot how long would the battery last. Are there extended batteries? Able to solar recharge?
you should put some ink in a test batch to show spray pattern and evennes.
Does the downward thrust affect the spray pattern ? This is really cool. As a plus you can chase off the blackbirds when your done spraying.
Hi Craig, the downward thrust doest affect the pattern, in fact it assists coverage as pushes the application down across the plant--also preventing lateral drift. Also yes, it could be used to scare away blackbirds and that's a great point. I just would hate to hit one and it take down a $40k piece of super sweet equipment! Have a great Friday Craig. Take care!
-Matthew
Matthew, I've have had some success chasing starlings off of vineyards using inexpensive ( $1500 ) drones. Primarily we were using falcons and pyrotechnic to get the job done, but the drone would scare them also, and for the most part they would flee before any close contact. Mind you we were only protecting 200 ac of grapes. Having a great Friday
This is a great point! It's true...those birds would be on the move before the drone got too close. Afraid of the noise more than the sight. We use Zon guns (boom canons run on propane) and firing shotgun shell blasts into the air (not aiming for them). It's tedious on 1,600 acres of rice. And tis the season unfortunately.
Good👍🏻
We could of used this when I worked for the California Dept. Of Boating and Waterways fighting water weeds.
Fascinating
Thanks Andrew. That's my brothers name! You're in good company.
-Matthew
I'm sure everyone is waiting for these drones sites.google.com/site/DjiUpcomingDrones
Very nice bro
They have RC Helicopters that do the same and run much longer per flight.
They might be fine for very small micro farms but not for larger areas.
That's one of the failures of the RC Heli's that were designed to do the same and have been out for years.
Great video thanks for sharing this.
Adding music to almost all videos on UA-cam, is a great mistake, this makes me turning off volume completely.
I think the flight pattern looks inefficient. I suggest using a circular/spiral pattern since it has fewer changes in direction.
Matthew, the low flight path looks like it would also minimize herbicide/pesticide drift. Is this true? If so, add it to the long list of benefits. Beautiful video as usual!
Thanks for the message Professor Bayham! Yes, you're right! drift is certainly minimized with the low flight path. This is why the ground-rig spraying business is so viable because many California rice acres are out of the "fly zone" for specific herbicides. It's a 4 mile radius around walnuts. So crop-dusters can drift a bit. And a minuscule micron can create a dead walnut leaf. Wont kill the tree but it's not pretty. Keep in touch professor!
-M.
Thanks for your attention Professor Bayham. Actually, the size of the liquid drops can be adjusted from 80 to 120 in Micron grade. And the downside airflow caused by the propeller can push them all over the plant.
Jude Bayham ighccjzjjlvkcl l jv
Fantástico , bem vindo ...
Great!, I'm working on a new way to add more things to the site. thanks -M for the great video. jesse
Thank you Jesse! Your site is looking great and I appreciate you helping spread the word about California rice!
-M.
Cool, Do you remember Jerry's Restaurant, down your way, My family started them, and sold all of them in 87', the one thing I remember about that restaurant was how low the sign out front was, The things you think of , wow! history . Yes my dad was Jerry.
Wow! Of course I remember Jerry's Restaurant! That was the place to go after football games with friends. How awesome!
+Jesse Goucher-- I have very fond memories of Jerry's Gridley restaurant. I miss it terribly! What is there now just isn't as good and it's not open 24 hours, which I really miss.
cool