Simam Spatial Intelligence · farm comparison

Three farms, one drone flight each.

Each tour opens on the real drone footage and turns into a measured 3D farm in about three seconds. We took short drone clips of three very different farms and read each one from the footage itself: what is grown, how water gets to it, what animals and buildings are there, how big each part is, and where the farm could do better. Same method, three regions.

Stock footage; the clips don't say exactly where they were filmed. Counts and areas come from the footage; readings and money figures are AI estimates to check on the ground.

Brick farmhouse and stables surrounded by fenced paddocks and woodland
English-style estate · grassland and horses
Farm compound with solar panels, a cattle shed and wheat fields
Asian smallholding · wheat, cattle, solar pump
Small wheat plots with a clump of trees and farm buildings on a hazy plain
Asian wheat plots · small fields

What each flight showed

Map of the estate made from the drone footage, with trees and buildings circled

Equestrian estate

English-style lowland · mid-summer
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Land
All grass: fenced paddocks with rounded corners, some mown in stripes for hay, woodland behind.
Livestock
Horses (one grazing in view); long stable blocks.
Water
A trough at a field gate.
Energy
Solar panels on one roof; the large stable roofs are bare.
Found
37 trees, 5 buildings and barns, wildflower and long-grass beds behind the house.
Measured
10.4 ha of grass mapped around the house measured · ±24% area
Condition
Even green grass, continuous fencing; worn tracks at gates and along fences.
Ideas
Rotational grazing: the main paddock (about 0.55 ha) in three cells; solar on the stable roof, roughly 190 kW on one slope (a guide); a dated record for schemes, insurance or sale.
Map of the farm compound made from the drone footage, with panels, cattle, trees and buildings circled

Mixed smallholding

Asia, irrigated plains · late winter
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Land
11.5 ha green crop (mostly wheat), 2.1 ha just ploughed, 2.4 ha trees incl. a timber woodlot measured · ±25% area
Livestock
Up to 14 cattle seen at once at feeding troughs, a few goats; open-sided shed, straw stack.
Water
Brick-lined well, small tank and field channels into flood-irrigation basins.
Energy
7 solar arrays by the well (about 31 kW, a guide): a solar-powered pump.
Found
9 buildings, 30 trees, 2 water tanks, motorbikes.
Estimate
About 39 t of wheat at regional average yields AI estimate
Condition
Healthy, even crop: only about 2% of it looks weaker than the rest.
Ideas
Laser-level the basins (15–31% less water and about 20% more wheat in regional field trials); green fodder for the herd; use the manure; store water for the solar pump.
Map of small wheat plots made from the drone footage

Wheat plots

Asia, wheat-belt plains · early spring
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Land
About 5.7 ha of green crop in many small plots scale assumed · ±70% area
Livestock
None in view; a large shed and pond further out.
Water
A small brick pump room with power, and narrow channels along each plot.
Energy
Grid power to the pump; no solar seen.
Found
10 trees, a pump room, vehicles on the track; mustard in flower nearby.
Estimate
About 28 t of wheat at regional average yields AI estimate
Condition
Young, mostly even wheat; several thin, patchy plots.
Ideas
Look at the patchy plots first; laser levelling (about 27% less water in a regional study); timber trees on the open field edges.

What changes by region

English-style estateAsian smallholdingAsian wheat plots
Main land useGrass for grazing and hayWheat, fodder, timber woodlotWheat, mustard
How water arrivesRain; troughs for stockWell and solar pump, flood basinsPump room, plot-to-plot channels
Field patternLarge fenced paddocksMedium plots around a compoundMany small separate plots
Where the gain isGrass use, buildings, recordsWater, levelling, herd feedEven stands, water, edges
What the 3D addsPaddock and fence lengths, roof sizes, condition recordCrop areas, solar and water assets, herd sizePlot areas, weak patches, access

How the footage was read

Each map is made from the drone footage itself, so it keeps the land around the farm, not just the buildings. Every circle is something the AI found in the frames and placed on the map, and each one links back to the moment in the video it came from.

Land-use map: crops in green, ploughed ground in tan, farmyard pale, trees dark green, roofs red
Land use on the Asian smallholding: green crops, ploughed ground, yard, trees and roofs, each measured in hectares.
Footage map of the smallholding compound with detections circled
Detections: panels (blue), buildings (yellow), trees (green), cattle (red), tanks (cyan).
Footage map of the wheat plots
A single low pass gives a strip of fields; field edges and tracks still read clearly.

For a farm in Yorkshire or Ireland

Most farmland at home is grass, so the estate is the closest match. One flight over your farm, or a video you already have, gives you:

  • Every field and paddock measured, with fence and hedge lengths.
  • A map of where the grass or crop looks thin, patchy or wet.
  • Buildings and roofs listed with their size and visible condition, and roofs that could carry solar.
  • Livestock, troughs, gates and tracks counted and placed on the map.
  • A dated 3D record you can walk round, useful for environmental schemes, insurance, a loan or a sale.
  • A short report, a spreadsheet of everything found, and the photo behind each finding.

A paid service from Simam Digital. We fly it for you, or start from your own footage.

≈ 2/3

of UK farmland is grassland (temporary and permanent grass, June 2024)

≈ 9/10

of Irish farmed land is grass or rough grazing

Notes and sources