As the only country covering an entire continent, Australia enjoys diverse soils, climates, and production systems that cultivate a host of crops from wheat, corn, sugarcane, cotton to temperate and tropical fruits. But it is also one of the countries most exposed to climate change.

Droughts, floods, heat waves, and bushfires have presented an enormous challenge to agriculture and food supply. Despite these extreme events are becoming 'ordinary', Australian farmers show strong adaptation to offset the climate effects and reap productivity gains through the adoption of new technologies. 

In Queensland, as rainbow came after rains, an XAG agricultural drone was sitting next to the cropping zone and ready to conduct spraying for fields too wet to enter by human or ground vehicle.

To teach the drone on where to fly autonomously, one of the solutions was a quick run around the motorbike with a portable mapping tool. The service team often maps out the areas before arriving onsite to spray.

When the sky has cleared up, the XAG drone was tested its atomisation spray effect which could reduce use of pesticides and water, therefore helping preserve soil moisture to better handle the dry condition.

Working from sunrise to sunset, the spray drone would never feel tired and were straight back into protecting a large piece of waterlogged crops after the heavy rain.

The sun has fallen like a painting, and it was time for the agricultural drone to come back from work and ready to be packed up in the truck for a short break.

Queensland farmers were equipped with this new combo of a ground unit fitted out boom sprays and a spot spraying drone on top, which has been put straight to work last month.

These two XAG agricultural drones are named Kevin and Jerry by their owners, which have been working in the air nonstop to control weeds for the past few weeks.

Photo Credit: Oztech Drones