Bird damage is one of the most common problems that farmers have to deal with. Even more critical is that traditional bird scaring tactics such as netting, gas guns, hawk kites, and reflective tape are no longer effective. As such, farmers are looking to new technologies to help them to protect their valuable crops. Drones that resemble hawks are some of the tools farmers are using to scare away birds trying to take a piece of their crop.

Many grape growers are gradually replacing the conventional bird warding tactics with drones. According to Logie Mackenzie, a viticulturist at Berakah Vineyard Management (BVM) in New Zealand, drones have proven to be more effective bird scaring tools than guns, especially from safety and environmental perspective.

Unlike gas guns, which generate constant noise from a fixed point, drones can cover more area within a short time. On top of this, the drones have eliminated the hassle of applying for licenses to operate guns. Basically, anyone can be trained to fly the drones. While BVM is still using guns and motorbikes to manage their clients’ vineyards, they are optimistic that drones will eventually replace them. Using drones means less money spent on cartridges and fuel. So far, they have reduced the amount of netting, which means cost saving for their clients.

New drones are coming out that are fully automated, so they can monitor an entire farm or vineyard on their own. All that is needed is for the GPS coordinates of the land to be plotted into the drone’s onboard computer.  With the use of drones, residents will complain less about noise produced by gas guns.

A number of people near farms had taken their complaints to social media pages, saying that the noise disturbs their sleep. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) New Zealand said each vineyard owner needs to check if their farms are within a no-fly zone. This means that unless they meet specific requirements, drone operators should not fly closer than 4 km from a helipad or airport. Besides this, they shouldn’t fly at a height over 120 meters from the ground.

Generally, drone operators are not required to get permits or special training to operate their drones on their farms as long as they operate within CAA rules. Even if their lands are in a no-fly zone, they can still seek permission to fly the drones.

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