New Kiwi innovation is helping farmers speed up their regular stock count.
It usually takes weeks for farmers to round up the number of sheep and cattle on a farm, especially for larger properties with multiple mobs.
However, PGG Wrightson has partnered with Inde Technology to develop a new application called SkyCount which combines the use of a drone and Microsoft’s artificial intelligence.
PGG Wrightson business development co-ordinator James Steele said the system can rapidly survey large properties within minutes.
He said a drone could film a property from above while artificial intelligence counted specific species below — from the high country to the plains.
“I will then look at everything that AI has done to make sure that it hasn’t made any mistakes,” he said.
“It’s getting pretty good now though, there’s only one or two they might have to adjust. We add all that together for every paddock that we fly and that gives us our audit report.”
The propellers of the drone have been changed out too so the animals aren’t disturbed.
The company’s chief technology officer, Rik Roberts, said the team has had to overcome lots of challenges to reach 99% accuracy in some cases.
He said the drones fly at 120m so they don’t scare the animals.
“Changing the propellers to make it sound less offensive to the animals. We don’t want to disturb the stock at all,” he said.
“We have very hilly terrain, scrub terrain, weather conditions, remote locations, no internet, that sort of thing.
“So we had to develop something that was self-contained and portable, but easy enough that a Wrightson’s rep could go out and fly it on their own.”
PGG Wrightson chief executive Stephen Guerin said, while beef, dairy, and sheep have been the focus so far, the technology could be used elsewhere.
“So what does it look like in terms of, you know, wild pigs, for example, could be the area that some others could think about using the sort of technology. But more broadly, verification of crops, crop areas, crop health, those sorts of things are also on our radar.”
