Drones Are the Newest Tool for Cattle Ranchers

Finding a needle in a haystack is like finding a single cow among a heard of 2,000 head spread across 10,000 acres. At the Matador Cattle Company, cattlemen hope to use drones to do just. Rancher John Douglas Russel has been key to the drone adoption, citing time-saving benefits, “If you go prowling around looking for strays, you can kill a week in a hurry,” 

This Koch Industries-owned company will use the drones to search for strays and check in on specific animals they have concerns about, even eventually using infrared cameras to find strays’ heat signatures. In the future, it hopes to use the drones across the entire ranch “mitigating invasive species, safely overseeing grass fires and even remotely scanning RFID ear tags to monitor cattle health.” To see the drones in action and read more about Koch’s commitment to innovation across its companies, click here.