Farm News
Agricultural firms
leading adoption
of drone tech
»»DRONES ARE HELPING UK
business’ profits soar, with
an estimated half a million
using them for commercial
purposes - and agricultural
firms are among those leading
the way.
A study of 3,045 UK adults
by DronesDirect.co.uk, one
of the UK’s leading drones
e-tailers, published in the
The UK Drone Usage Report
2016, reveals that 586,430
Britons have used drones for
commercial purposes.
The agricultural industry (18%)
has been quick to incorporate
the remote flying technology
into their processes, including
assessing crop growth, and
distributing pesticides and
fertilisers.
Unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs) are being put to work
in an increasing number of
commercial situations, such as
filming, surveying landscapes,
and product delivery.
The media industry (63%) is
leading the uptake of their use
–for taking aerial photography
or videography.
Facilities management firms
(39%) ranked in second place
with Mitie having recently
unveiled plans to use drones
for accessing problems such
as pest control in high rise
buildings.
Oil and utilities companies
(34%) are also driving drone
uptake. Firms such as BP and
Shell currently use UAVs to
inspect off-shore oil rigs and
pipelines.
The construction industry
(17%) ranked in fifth place, using
drones to access the progress
of projects.
UK fire and police services
have also been incorporating
drone technology into rescue
operations. UAVs can provide
alternative angles from which
to access and observe crime
scenes and can be used to
access the safety of hazardous
sites.
Surveillance (32%) is
amongst the most common
commercial uses of drones,
following photography. More
than one in five (21%) is using a
drone for workplace security.
Delivery is anticipated to be
the largest area of growth for
commercial drone usage ahead
of the launch of Amazon’s
Prime Air parcel delivery
service, and plans by Royal Mail
and DHL to do similar.
The UK is a popular base
for developing and testing
commercial applications
of UAVs. The Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA) has also
recently relaxed several of the
current regulations surrounding
UK drone usage for commercial
trials, in response to requests
from Amazon to trial its Prime
Air delivery service, including
the operation of vehicles
without direct line of sight
and the uses of anti-collision
technology.
Tim Morley, category
manager at DronesDirect.
co.uk, said, “It’s great to
see agricultural businesses
incorporating drones into their
day-to-day practices to make
processes simpler and more
efficient.
“We anticipate even more
businesses using drones
following the recent change in
rules from the CAA.”
The full Report can be found
online here;www.dronesdirect.
co.uk/content/dronereport
8 Oct/Nov 2016 www.farmers-mart.co.uk
SIX REASONS WHY
FARMERS SHOULD
LOOK ON THE
BRIGHT SIDE
»» GREAVES WEST AND
Ayre, Berwick-upon-Tweed
based chartered accountants,
have put together the
following list of reasons to
remind British farmers of the
things there are to be positive
about in the agricultural
industry’s current climate, and
how recent changes to laws
surrounding pension reform
and tax can be beneficial to
farmers and their families.
New averaging rules for
tax purposes - 2016 has
seen the introduction of
the choice between 2 and
5 year averaging of profits
for tax purposes, as well as
simplification of background
rules. It is worth checking
which works to your best
advantage.
Pension reform - Amongst
other changes, inheritance
tax and other charges on
death have gone and pension
schemes in many ways can
now be regarded as a multi
generation tax sheltered
wealth fund. It is important to
review your strategy to ensure
it is still meets the needs of
your circumstances.
Tax shelters - There remain
a number of useful legitimate
planning techniques and
vehicles that can be used by
family businesses as part of
both their business structure
and overall wealth and asset
management. These include
companies where tax rates
are dropping, trusts and
investment and insurance
based products.
Diversification - Those
who have managed to
diversify effectively over the
last decade or so should be
taking some comfort from
a more robust and diverse
income base in their business.
Manageable diversification
creates increased stability.
End of Chinese One Child
policy - China has ended
its controversial one child
policy, and it remains to be
seen what effect an increased
rate of population growth will
have in the longer term on
China’s import of agricultural
products.
Different options - You
don’t have to do things the
way they’ve always been
done. It may be wise to allow
arable land to lie fallow and
put the capital into something
else - even Premium Bonds! during the normal production
cycle.
Andrew Ayre, partner at
Greaves West & Ayre, said:
“There seem to be many
reasons at present, perhaps
even more than usual, to feel
a bit down. These include
uncertainties caused by the
Brexit debate, low commodity
prices, growing bureaucracy,
and the impact of land reform
political interference in our
lives generally. As well as, of
course, the perennial weather
which seems to get more
volatile.
“However, having said that,
we believe that there is still
room for optimism! We thought
we’d put together a list of
reasons, that we’ve found to
be helpful to our clients, to be
cheerful and to remind people
it’s not all bad.”
www.greaveswestayre.co.uk