Since 2010, Jacob has used and owned several drones. He even has his own drone airport where other pilots can test and practice.
possible again by the third run of PPL-pro- gramme and he has been using drone imagery since 2010. Since 2012, he basically bought one or two drones every year. In the same year he started flying drones with multispectral and thermal cameras. This enabled him to measure biomass and plant vitality better. Earlier this year, Jacob founded his own drone airport to cope with the restrictions of officially flying bigger and heavier drones and multiple drones at once. Besides, the farm is not too far from Eindhoven Airport and it is also home to a Precision Agriculture Practice Centre supported
Connectivity is key. Jacob prides himself on having the fastest internet connection in the Netherlands (but it is still too slow sometimes).
by the Dutch government and Europe. This urged him to find a solution, so he applied for an official airport status for Agri Drone Port Re- usel. He appointed an official airport manager, a former pilot, who is responsible for the com- munication about anticipated flights to the au- thorities and to civil and military airports. At the 80 hectare Agri Drone Port Reusel with three dedicated start and landing zones, every drone pilot is welcome to test and practice.
Knowledge transfer Currently, Jacob and his brother are at the
verge of calming the urge to always operate and own the latest and newest technology. “I still am a technology and connectivity adept, but I am starting to wonder if that is always necessary. So, we decided to tone it down a bit, because we cannot automate everything on the farm. I have started to reinitiate the weekly farm walks my granddad used to do to monitor our crops and fields. I also aim at simplifying the farm operation and I am investing time and money in knowledge transfer. Both to our em- ployees as towards other farmers to help them use precision farming as a management tool.”
Jacob is currently testing several weather stations and soil moisture sensors. He has been using similar phytophthora dis- ease warning sys- tems since 1998.
▶ FUTURE FARMING | 27 August 2019 13
PHOTO: PETER ROEK
PHOTO: PETER ROEK
PHOTO: PETER ROEK
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