Not if but when

[Mark Reynolds]

No. What I'm saying is that technically doesn't fix everything and people who count on it will get themselves in a bind at some point.

Checking on cows isn't just checking on cows. I can't tell you how many times I have come across a problem while going to check pastures. Whether it's a dog somebody dumped in the country or an elderly neighbor who got a flat tire or a teenager who drove off the road or helping a landlord who got their lawnmower stuck or finding people who really have no business being where they are and are probably up to no good.

Or if you want to just talk about cattle. Checking fence/ cows isn't just checking fence/ cows. When I go I'm looking for weeds that may need sprayed or if the beavers are starting to dam the creek again or if the float stuck on the automatic drinker and there's a stream running from it. Or more than normal predator signs.
Not to mention checking mineral, checking creep feeders, checking creeks/ponds.

None of that is done on a computer or smartphone, but all of it gets done when I go check fences and cows.

You are saying that it's not a magic bullet that is the be all to end all. It is, however, another tool that can be added to the toolbox that when properly applied can solve things that otherwise couldn't be solved or make something easier than it has been in the past?

 

[SBMF 2015]

You are saying that it's not a magic bullet that is the be all to end all. It is, however, another tool that can be added to the toolbox that when properly applied can solve things that otherwise couldn't be solved or make something easier than it has been in the past?

Maybe, I just don't see the need to spend the extra money and time to learn how to use it.
If you find a problem with the drone you still have to go deal with it. I have some fences on rented pasture that you have to crawl through the briars to get to. Your not finding those problems watching on a screen.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

If you find a problem with the drone you still have to go deal with it.

Correct. But I fly my drone around a few times a week checking things out. I typically only find issues that I need to physically address maybe a handful of times per year. Lots of time and energy saved that I can use for other things.

As for fence going thru a briar patch go thru and clear those fencelines out (even on rented pastures). No matter how you check fence crawling thru a briar patch is silly.

 

[Spot & Bubby]

I have some fences on rented pasture that you have to crawl through the briars to get to.

That seems dangerous.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Usually the fence behind the briars is is the best. The deer won't even bother going through it.

Grass here is a precious commodity. They clear and row crop anything they can farm without rolling a combine. There are very few landlords left that see the value of leaving pasture as pasture when someone will give them 3x as much cash rent to farm it.
As long as it has good grass and decent water I can manage the fence. We have very few issues. If we do it's usually after a storm or the deer cause problems.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Grass is also a precious commodity here as well, because 80% of our land is covered in dense rugged timber.

Doesn't change the fact that climbing thru a briar patch to maintain a fence is silly. Couple hours cleaning things up makes life a whole lot easier from then on, and goes back to that "impressing the landlord" stuff you mentioned.

Also if the "fence thru the briar patch" is so hard to check and doesn't cause issues then it's also no biggy if you can't check it with a drone.

I'm not saying that you need to do it any particular way. Just find it funny how so many farmer/ranchers are sticks in the mud and just say "it can't be done" when they have never tried it. That goes for every new/different idea that comes along.

 

[Brute 23]

Maybe, I just don't see the need to spend the extra money and time to learn how to use it.
If you find a problem with the drone you still have to go deal with it. I have some fences on rented pasture that you have to crawl through the briars to get to. Your not finding those problems watching on a screen.

If you fly over with a drone and count the cattle and they are all there, do you need to go check the fence in the brush? Are you crawling in to the fence every time you go check cattle, even if there is not a problem?

 

[SBMF 2015]

If you fly over with a drone and count the cattle and they are all there, do you need to go check the fence in the brush? Are you crawling in to the fence every time you go check cattle, even if there is not a problem?

Nope, usually just the first time before turn out and after bad storms.
I usually only check cows when I put mineral out, about once a week. If the cows are spread out under the hedge trees you won't see them from the air. I don't know much about drones but I doubt a person would want to fly them cow height off the ground in rough timber.

 

[Dave]

A neighbor asked the other day what the river was doing. I said based on a big rock on the river bank the river has dropped about a foot and a half. Neighbor replied that is the difference between you and younger generations. You look at a rock on the river bank and they look at their phone for an answer.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

One other difference is the older generations did everything the hard way (because that was often the only option). Now at 65+ years old their bodys are shot, hearings gone, etc.

I try to work smarter because I want to be able to run around with my grandkids not watch them from my wheelchair.

 

[Brute 23]

A neighbor asked the other day what the river was doing. I said based on a big rock on the river bank the river has dropped about a foot and a half. Neighbor replied that is the difference between you and younger generations. You look at a rock on the river bank and they look at their phone for an answer.

That's not true. I fly a drone to look at the rock.

That is the point I was making earlier. It doesn't have to be one way or the other. I have made a lot of money combining the new and the old. In some cases I just bridged the communication gap between the new and old and got paid for it.

If any one is stuck on the old or the new, they are likely missing out.

 

[Brute 23]

Nope, usually just the first time before turn out and after bad storms.
I usually only check cows when I put mineral out, about once a week. If the cows are spread out under the hedge trees you won't see them from the air. I don't know much about drones but I doubt a person would want to fly them cow height off the ground in rough timber.

Like any other tool, it's only as good as the operator and their ability to use it.

It doesn't matter if it's a drone or your eyes, you have to learn when and where to go to be able to see your cattle.

I put cell cam over the only trough in about 250ac of brush and kept track of the heifers in that pasture. I didn't just throw my hands up and say we have never done it like that before and it will never work.

It's amazing what a little "want to" can accomplish.

 

[Dave]

That's not true. I fly a drone to look at the rock.

That is the point I was making earlier. It doesn't have to be one way or the other. I have made a lot of money combining the new and the old. In some cases I just bridged the communication gap between the new and old and got paid for it.

If any one is stuck on the old or the new, they are likely missing out.

I have to open the gate to go out into the field to feed the cows. When I swing the gate open the rock is about 10 feet from me. Why buy a drone or take time to fly it when I can just turn my head a little and see the rock. Much easier to estimate the water level looking at it in person than a photo on a screen. And the drone would probably crash into one of the cottonwood trees and fall into the river.

Here feeding the cows is a daily chore from sometime in late November until grass comes on in late April / early May. The flake feeder I bought last year is new technology. I just drive across the field pushing a button on a key fob and it pushes off a flake of hay. Much easier, faster, and safer than the old method of climbing up on the back of a truck that is idling across the field. One day 55 years ago I helped a friend feed a couple hundred heifers. Team of horses pulling a wagon full of little square bales we loaded and fed out by hand. Had it been even older technology it would have been loose hay loaded and fed out using a pitchfork.

We have advanced past loose hay, little squares, and round bales. People here refer to feeding hay in round bales as "old school".

 

[SBMF 2015]

Like any other tool, it's only as good as the operator and their ability to use it.

That counts me out.

 

[Brute 23]

 

[Spot & Bubby]

Much easier, faster, and safer than the old method of climbing up on the back of a truck that is idling across the field.

This was Bossman's method when I was hired on. His wife/my good friend liked the idea of having a human around to call 911 when he was feeding like that. She didn't anticipate he would have me drive the pickup, but he does. Then he calls me "feather foot," whatever that means. I have been admiring those flake feeders from the first time I saw one.