Suffolk farmer Nick Stennett on the family roots behind Lux Drone Systems, and how drone services can help your farm or business.

 

My family has been farming for well over a century. The Stennetts can be traced back to working on a farm out in North Lincolnshire in the late 1800s. At some point, the family moved to Suffolk and farmed on the Shotley Peninsula. In 1938, at sixteen, my great-grandfather was sent to take on a further farm, which is where we still live.

I grew up at Lux Farm in Rushmere St Andrew, just outside Ipswich. Farming is what I know. Lux Drone Systems is what happens when a farmer gets hold of a drone and realises how much it can tell you about the land.

The problem every farmer knows

Anyone who farms knows the feeling of finding a problem too late. A patch of disease nobody spotted, or a corner that's been holding water all winter. By the time you can see it from the tractor, it's already cost you.

Margins leave less room for that than they used to. Farm input costs are now around 40% higher than in 2020, according to farm business consultants The Andersons Centre, with fertiliser and fuel among the biggest rises. Every kilo of nitrogen has to earn its place.

The weather isn't making it any easier. East Anglia swings between winters too wet to travel and summers too dry to grow. July 2026 was the driest on record for England and Wales, and AHDB recorded the earliest harvest since it began keeping records, with wheat yields a tonne per hectare below the ten-year average.

None of that is in anyone's control. What you can control is how quickly you spot a problem, and how precisely you deal with it.

Why I started Lux Drone Systems

A drone changes what you can see. From the air you take in a whole field at once, and with the right camera you can see stress in a crop before it shows to the eye. When I started flying over our own land, problems showed up earlier, and decisions got easier.

The other thing I noticed was that most people offering drone work to farmers aren't farmers. They can fly, but they don't always know what they're looking at, or what it means for your harvest. I do, because I'm dealing with the same weather and the same costs as everyone else.

So I set up Lux Drone Systems to offer the service I'd want to use myself. Straightforward and accurate, from someone who understands farming.

What I can help with

Agricultural surveying

Surveys capture data to a target ground resolution of 2cm, conditions and site allowing. At that level of detail, small problems show up while they're still cheap to fix, rather than three weeks later when they've already cost you crop.

A survey can check crop health across a field, show where water is moving and pooling, map soil variability so inputs go where they'll pay, or support harvest planning. You don't get a folder of raw images to work out for yourself. You get clear, farmer-readable information built around the decision you need to make, whether that's where to spend on inputs or what to flag to your agronomist. It's precise enough for record-keeping and stewardship scheme evidence too.

Surveys run from August through to June. July stays clear for harvest, on your farm and mine.

Spreading and spraying

Some jobs don't suit a tractor, either because the ground's too wet to travel or because you only want material on one part of a field. Drone spreading and spraying, carried out under SAS's authorisation, gets material where it needs to go without putting wheels on the ground. That means no compaction, and no crop lost to tramlines on a late pass.

It's particularly useful for getting cover crops into a standing crop before harvest, or for treating a patch a survey has picked up without covering the whole field. I assess every job before it's agreed, and if a drone isn't the right tool, I'll say so.

Thermal imaging

Thermal surveys show where a building is losing heat through the roof or walls, and can pick up moisture getting in where you can't see it. On a warehouse or large commercial building, a drone covers the whole roof in a fraction of the time a traditional inspection takes, without scaffolding. Barely a handful of operators in the UK are licensed to do this commercially. If your building is losing heat, I'll show you exactly where.

Deer surveys

The same thermal camera counts deer. Flown at first light or after dark, a survey covers an estate or woodland block and picks up the animals lying up in cover that walk counts miss. I also run fawn checks in long grass ahead of silage cutting.

How it works

Every job starts with a conversation. We'll have a discovery call, or a chat on the farm if that's easier, so I understand your land or building and what you need.

After that, I'll send a written quote that lays out exactly what I'll do and what it will cost. Nothing is booked until you've read it and you're happy. If a drone isn't the right answer, I'll tell you on the calland save us both the time.

How you can help

I'm a new business, and in farming, word of mouth counts for more than anything I could say about myself. If you'd like to help:

• Share this with anyone who might find it useful.
• Mention me to a neighbour, a farm manager, an estate or someone running a large building. If you'd be happy for me to survey your land in return for honest feedback I can share, get in touch.
• The same goes for anyone with a commercial building who'd like to see what a thermal survey shows.
• If you see me at a show, come and say hello. I'd much rather talk over a gate than overemail.

Get in touch

If any of this sounds useful, or you want to ask a question, ring me on 07387 087712 or email info@luxdronesystems.co.uk. I'll book in a discovery call, and we'll take it from there.