Counting cattle from the air: what producers get out of it

Anybody who has tried to count cattle across 300 acres of brushy, timbered pasture knows the drill: half a day, a tank of fuel, two passes that disagree with each other, and a nagging suspicion that four head are standing in cedar somewhere. The animals do not enjoy it either.

From roughly 175 feet — well under the 400-foot Part 107 ceiling in 14 CFR 107.51 — cattle in the open or in thin cover read as white shapes against cool ground. Timber and dense cedar are the same limit as any thermal flight: the camera does not see through a closed canopy. We work edges, openings, and gaps, record the whole flight, and count off the footage rather than by eye, so the number is reviewable rather than an in-the-field estimate.

Documented, reviewable headcounts you can keep on file for your own records, and that some lenders or insurers may accept — ask them, do not take that from me. Sale preparation. Calving and lambing checks in brush where a heifer in trouble is otherwise invisible. And the big one: after a storm or a downed fence, a fast answer to whether anything is missing and where it went.

Animals outside the fence, split off from the herd, or down away from the group show up plainly against the pattern of the main bunch. Those get flagged with coordinates so somebody can drive straight to them instead of searching.

The aircraft works high and quiet. Cattle are not herded, chased, or worked in any way. That is the point when you are checking heavy-bred cows or fresh pairs.

Cattle, sheep, goats and horses all count the same way. Pricing runs by acreage and herd size, and producers who count on a schedule generally set up a standing arrangement.

Need a livestock count? FindMyBuckNWA flies thermal herd counts for producers. Drones Inbound LLC operates the aircraft under 14 CFR Part 107. 888-901-5150