EARLY one autumn morning last year, we  were awakened by a commotion in the field adjacent to our garden hedge.
This occurs every year about this time, and so I was well prepared.
It was still first dawn light as I primed up the Phantom for a reconnaissance mission......



The neighbouring farmer is a good friend, and even let my 8 year old grandson drive the tractor during a holiday visit to us.

Great shot of modern farming.

ALABAMA Posted at 2018-4-29 15:20
Great shot of modern farming.

Thanks AL.  I didn't have far to go to get that footage.  I was still on my first cup of coffee too

Great video that looks a lot like sugar cane to me.

That is so cool. Great video.

Hellsgate Posted at 2018-4-29 15:29
Great video that looks a lot like sugar cane to me.

Hi HG.   It's maybe similar-looking.  It's maize, which is grown extensively in these parts as cattle feed. In Spring we can see for miles across the fields, but as this stuff grows it slowly cuts off the view to the East for a few months, reaching about 2.5 metres in height.

It's cool! Love to see the harvest season!

Yeah looks just like sugar cane here in queensland

Cool vid - good work!   

Hurley1718 Posted at 2018-4-29 21:03
That is so cool. Great video.

Thanks Hurley. My grandson was more interested in the tractors than the drone   Maybe that will change now he's a bit older.

Have to admit the machinery certainly does a great job. You can run the tractor on GPS so wonder if I could do it with the P4P It'd make the P4 a tax deduction

DJI Susan Posted at 2018-4-29 23:47
It's cool! Love to see the harvest season!

Thank you Susan

Cool video!  Something very satisfying about watching this... I could watch it for hours

A CW Posted at 2018-4-30 02:30
Cool vid - good work!

Thanks A CW. It was an opportunity right on my doorstep

sky wombat Posted at 2018-4-30 03:54
Have to admit the machinery certainly does a great job. You can run the tractor on GPS so wonder if I could do it with the P4P  It'd make the P4 a tax deduction

I've seen video of those tractors, on vast plains in the 'States. Not sure if there would be sufficient acreage here to make them viable. Most of the farms hereabouts are smallholdings compared to those.

Hellsgate Posted at 2018-4-30 00:41
Yeah looks just like sugar cane here in queensland

Do they harvest that the same way?

I find it very difficult to track moving object with my drone. You’re very good! Did you use active track mode?

echopiece Posted at 2018-4-30 06:17
Cool video!  Something very satisfying about watching this... I could watch it for hours

Haha. The original footage runs to 40 minutes (two batteries' worth) the time to strip the field.
I think posting all that would exceed the attention span of most people.  

Good work , not seen this operation from the air before ..... thanks

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-4-30 09:35
Haha. The original footage runs to 40 minutes (two batteries' worth) the time to strip the field.
I think posting all that would exceed the attention span of most people.

Make a time-lapse video   I'll watch it

Interesting subject, nicely flown and edited...

OOO Posted at 2018-4-30 09:16
I find it very difficult to track moving object with my drone. You’re very good! Did you use active track mode?

You're  tOOO kind   I've seen some of your outstanding work on the forum.   Active track was not used - this was simply flying by hand. It's easier than you might think.  The tractors are moving quite slowly and their path is predictable.

Nice video! They certainly couldn't get much more in that trailer. You can tell they have done that a few times. Thanks. for sharing.

DEUCEDOG Posted at 2018-4-30 10:04
Good work , not seen this operation from the air before ..... thanks

Thanks DD, it was fun to do - and the farmers liked it too

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-4-30 07:19
Do they harvest that the same way?

Cane harvesting machines are very complicated devices, and they are often not owned by the farmers. At harvesting time, they come to your property and harvest everything in a short time, often half a day. And Australia is still using cane tramways to cart the cane to the sugar mill. These days, the harvesters cut the cane into short lengthsa, wereas in the early times it was harvested full length. When a contractor comes to cut your cane, the mill will place a full train of empty cut cane bins on a siding, and the contractors fill the bins from the hoppers that collect the cane from the harvester.

Watching big time wheat harvesting is even more amazing here, often they will run around 12 harvesters, side by side, and staggered about 10 metres behind each other. They harvest huge wheat fileds in no time at all.

m1shootr Posted at 2018-4-30 13:39
Nice video! They certainly couldn't get much more in that trailer. You can tell they have done that a few times. Thanks. for sharing.

Thanks m1shootr.  Yes it's a well-practised routine. They all take it in turns to help eachothers' harvest.

ghutch Posted at 2018-4-30 12:36
Interesting subject, nicely flown and edited...

Thanks ghutch

Geebax Posted at 2018-4-30 22:57
Cane harvesting machines are very complicated devices, and they are often not owned by the farmers. At harvesting time, they come to your property and harvest everything in a short time, often half a day. And Australia is still using cane tramways to cart the cane to the sugar mill. These days, the harvesters cut the cane into short lengthsa, wereas in the early times it was harvested full length. When a contractor comes to cut your cane, the mill will place a full train of empty cut cane bins on a siding, and the contractors fill the bins from the hoppers that collect the cane from the harvester.

Watching big time wheat harvesting is even more amazing here, often they will run around 12 harvesters, side by side, and staggered about 10 metres behind each other. They harvest huge wheat fileds in no time at all.

I guess some of the vast farms over there are bigger than an entire county over here  

It's no secret, my affinity for specific herbs with medicinal properties.  ;-)


Thanks for continuing to share your wonderful vids with the forum. That's awesome.




RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2018-5-1 09:42
It's no secret, my affinity for specific herbs with medicinal properties.  ;-)

Hi Red.  I'm not sure of the herbal benefits of Maize, but the cattle thrive on it in the winter.  It's stored under huge tarpaulins, and the odour has a distinct alcoholic reek as the stuff ferments.

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-5-1 09:50
Hi Red.  I'm not sure of the herbal benefits of Maize, but the cattle thrive on it in the winter.  It's stored under huge tarpaulins, and the odour has a distinct alcoholic reek as the stuff ferments.

Under influences of my native friends, I know it can be ground, then made into bannock. ;-)


This makes me pretty elated.

Maybe corn fritters would be more appropriate? Haha


RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2018-5-1 11:12
Under influences of my native friends, I know it can be ground, then made into bannock. ;-)

[view_image]

And I thought Bannock Burn was a place in Scotland

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-5-1 09:41
I guess some of the vast farms over there are bigger than an entire county over here

Among the wheat farms and cattle or sheep stations yes, some are measured in hundreds of square miles. The largest farm in the world is in Australia.

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-5-1 15:07
And I thought Bannock Burn was a place in Scotland

Oh no, please don't burn our bannock. Hahaha



RedHotPoker

Geebax Posted at 2018-5-1 15:17
Among the wheat farms and cattle or sheep stations yes, some are measured in hundreds of square miles. The largest farm in the world is in Australia.

Difficult to grasp for us (former) Island dwellers.  But perhaps I overestimated.  Mr.Google tells me that our Département (County) covers 2000 square miles.

RedHotPoker Posted at 2018-5-1 18:26
Oh no, please don't burn our bannock. Hahaha

Oh, don't mess with the Scots, Red. Bannockburn 1314 was a turning point in the fight in their wars of Independence from England. And they're a proud and fearsome race

Great video

Montfrooij Posted at 2018-5-1 23:33
Great video

Hi Montfrooij. Glad you like it. Nice to hear from you

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-5-1 22:06
Oh, don't mess with the Scots, Red.  Bannockburn 1314 was a turning point in the fight in their wars of Independence from England. And they're a proud and fearsome race

Oh yeah, correct. But I hadn't emerged quite as of yet.


I didn't pop out of the oven for several more centuries...

Large brain, Long incubation, you know. ;-)



RedHotPoker

Blériot53 Posted at 2018-5-2 01:18
Hi Montfrooij. Glad you like it. Nice to hear from you

You're welcome.
Indeed, I have been less active lately.
A lot of things to do at home