Alberta study includes classifying damaged areas within fields using high-definition imaging from unmanned drones
Eight days after a record-breaking hailstone was found in Alberta, Olds College and Agriculture Financial Services Corp. cemented a partnership to promote research into practices such as using drones to assess crop damage from hail.
The announcement was made Aug. 9 at the college’s AgSmart agricultural expo.
“As a starting point, we’ve seen a lot of hail this year,” said Darryl Kay, chief executive officer for AFSC during an interview.
“Our adjusters are extremely busy. We know there’s a lot of pressure for producers as we get closer and closer to harvest, and so we’re deploying adjusters across the province to help move through the workload.”
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A hailstorm Aug. 1 near Innisfail, Alta., recorded the largest hailstone ever found in Canada. It weighed 292.71 grams, breaking a nearly 50-year-old record of 290 grams set in 1973 in Cedoux, Sask.
Scientists at Western University’s Northern Hail Project collected it near Markerville northwest of Innisfail. Only 22 hailstones around the world have been found to be larger than 290 grams.
The hailstorm severely damaged up to 70 vehicles on Highway 2 at nearby Antler Hill. It also damaged crops in Red Deer County, with total claims expected to be well into the millions of dollars.
AFSC has received 5,000 to 6,000 claims from hailstorms across Alberta, which means 2022 is trending to be an average year, said Kay. He expected the final total will be close to 7,000 claims depending on what happens this month.
The hail damage has hit “pretty close to home” for scientists at Olds College, said Debbie Thompson, vice-president of academic and student experience. The institution is only about 50 kilometres south of where the record-breaking hailstone was found.
Researchers at the college’s Smart Farm have been conducting a hail damage project with AFSC, she told the news conference. It involves classifying damaged areas within fields using high-definition imaging from unmanned drones, she said.
Scientists examined the technology last year to see if it could work for such purposes, said a college statement.
“Promising initial results showed that drones could provide a good overview of the extent of damage.”
Work continued this year using actual fields hit by hailstorms, it said. “Researchers will create a database of hail-damaged crops imagery and see if this could assist AFSC adjusters in the assessment process.”
Research during the next five years will seek to improve areas such as sensor testing and validation, data collection and analysis, field trials, automation technologies and risk management, said the statement.
Projects include whether soil moisture measurements by probes can improve estimates of forage yields, it said.
“This will provide learning opportunities for AFSC in support of their Moisture Deficiency insurance (MD9) program, which compensates participating producers who experience low forage production due to a lack of soil moisture.”
Scientists are also looking at using historical weather data to help model forage yields, it said. Such information ranges from soil moisture measurements and forage yield records to historical precipitation, it added.
Kay said AFSC is trying to “make sure our pasture programs work for producers, especially with the heat we’ve seen over the last few years.” Prolonged heat waves and drought in 2021 forced many beef producers to downsize their herds due to lack of forage.
“So, it’s really about making sure that the programs are working — they’re paying when producers expect them to be and they continue to remain relevant,” said Kay.
“The other side of it is on the delivery of our programs. We’re spending a lot of time trying to make sure we can streamline work through significant workloads like we’re seeing this month with hail, but as we change the delivery and streamline and become more efficient, the producer wins ultimately because it’s easy to do business with our organization.”
