So,  we’ve decided to include a newsy article in our monthly newsletter and are going to kick off with the subject of Drones which have been in the news recently – yes, you know ... the futuristic " techy" sort of Drone – the ones that fly.. yip, the ones we thought we would never see in our lifetime..!

It seems that Drones have many legitimate applications

Some of our most well known companies are using Drones already For example Royal Mail, Asda, the BBC and more are all using drones mainly for delivering goods/testing deliveries at the moment  -  see what they are up to here 

And drones have great potential for farming and are already in use in some places.

Replacement farm labour force post-Brexit? A very well-respected Professor  - Simon Blackmore, Head of engineering at Harper Adams University has told the Lords committee that if /when we become very short on farm labour (e.g. in the aftermath of Brexit) then drones and other robots will be able to come to our rescue - see the report here and here 

Use in crop spraying For instance Drones are already being used for monitoring and mapping crops in the UK and a company called Drone Ag is experimenting using them to spray crops too - see here for more info

Helping monitor Plants and Disease And drones are being tested to work in the field with the aim of monitoring plants for pests and disease which could have fantastic Worldwide implications  - see the full report here

Click here  to see at video of what farming with Drones looks like

Drones and ..Prisons..?

But of course , no surprise, it turns out that  as usual all the seemingly most newsworthy (interesting?) articles about Drones are actually those reporting back on what happens when our less law-abiding citizens get their hands on Drones!

So ... for example some UK prisoners are using drones to get their mobile phones, drug and tobacco supplies in to prison!

Drones were seized over HMP Pentonville carrying such contraband - see the news report on it here

But ... good news! The UK government is thinking on its feet here and is considering training eagles to stop drones from delivering drugs and other contraband to prisons....! read all about that here