Rocky View County (RVC) has a new ally in its fight against weeds – an unmanned aerial drone, which will be used to provide real-time photos and videos from hard-to-reach areas to help the County’s agricultural officers locate and identify any threats.
“About a year ago, we started looking into the possibility of finding a machine that would do what we need it to – with the right cargo capacity, and with safety backups on the machine itself,” said Ashley Stewart, agriculture services officer with RVC. “It’s going to be mostly used to find invasive plants in areas that are hard to get to, either by foot or by equipment.”
According to Stewart, RVC’s many coulees, steep riverbanks and other dangerous sections of land provide a perfect opportunity for noxious weeds to take control, since these areas are generally inaccessible to weed inspectors. Early identification of weed problems through the use of a drone can save the County a great deal of money and effort, he said.
Provincial law requires all landowners to control or destroy dozens of different weed species that pose an economic or environmental threat, according to a press release issued by RVC. RVC already conducts weed inspection and enforcement programs on private lands and mounts an “aggressive” program to control and eliminate weeds on public land as part of this provincial directive.
“With this drone, we can do even more,” Stewart said. “This is kind of a trial period so that we can see how the technology works and what we can do with it. It’s a bit of an on-going learning experience because this technology is advancing day by day. There are new types of software, new cameras and all of that instantly changes what you can do with this drone.”
Out-of-control weeds can cause millions of dollars in damage to crops and livestock, and pose a serious risk to native wildlife and plant species. According to RVC’s press release, if the County can identify a risk early, it can be very straightforward and cost-effective to control or eliminate the problem.
Currently, Stewart said the drone will be exclusively used by the agriculture department but there are other departments within RVC that are interested in seeing where else the drone could be effective. County staff are trained on the safe operation of the drone, which will fly throughout the growing season within RVC.
“We will conduct an evaluation of the first season’s operation later this year,” Stewart said. “It’s something we are really excited about, and I think people throughout the county are excited about it, too.”
