Tech tools to target weeds Growers in the Burdekin are taking up technology options to more accurately pinpoint and deal with weeds in their sugarcane crops. The aim is to use less herbicide and save money while also safeguarding the surrounding environment. BY NEROLI ROOCKE
Chris Delaney is a Burdekin cane grower, a mine worker and a certified drone pilot. His aircraft is a quadcopter with a 16-litre payload of herbicide and his fellow growers are lining up to have him fly over their crops. He sees the drone as being useful when the job is not right for a tractor, helicopter or plane. “The drone can be more accurate than a chopper or a plane, particularly when people need to spray paddocks close to houses or bean crops,” Chris says. “I can spray from roughly four metres above the ground and it doesn’t drift.” Home Hill grower Greg Rossato, who has had Chris spray for vines in a particular area of his farm, agrees.
upgrade to the newer technology, try something different and support a local business,” he says.
“There's a saving on expensive chemicals by only spraying where it's needed.”
“The drone can also get into a lot more places safely, like near powerlines, and there’s a saving on expensive chemicals by only spraying where it’s needed.” Chris first sends up a small drone with a camera to scan the block from the air. Using GPS, he maps the perimeter of the block or area to be sprayed and looks to pinpoint particular problem areas. “We look at what vegetation there is on the images and we then program where to spray and where to turn it off,” he says. Next, he launches the large drone, an XAG P30, from the same spot or base station and it follows a flight path mapped out on a tablet or phone screen to reach and then spray the weeds.
“There’s a house very near where I wanted to spray so I thought it’d be better to try the drone. I also wanted to
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