Details for Pros and Cons of Using Drones for Field-Level Spraying in Agriculture

Also as a follow up to my answer: only time I’d see full on adoption in USA is if 1) FAA lets us “swarm” like fly 3-5 drones at once 2) let us fly at night 3) if the drone could reload chemicals with zero human help

Time. Sprayer is going to beat the drone every time. T20/T30 are great for border spraying and spot spraying or a “rescue”

1-Capacity 2-Regulation 3-Liability.

Oh I wouldn't say I'm an expert on this topic but I can give you two reasons I would think this is slow to be adopted. The first one is that majority of producers have a system for spraying that works for their Farm. Spraying is a very intensive time and you need to get it done when you have that time. To try to change that can have devastating effects. The second reason I would suggest would go to the idea that most spraying is now done with larger amounts of water for better coverage. Going the Drone aspect goes back to less water which has its own set of issues.

Honestly, dealing with regulations and paperwork. There is a mountain of paperwork involved because it all has to go through the faa. I will say, they have streamlined the process exponentially compared to what it was (had known of people waiting a year and a half) , but you basically need to start doing your exemptions and registrations now if you want to spray for this summer. As for drone adoption, i would say like any technology it just takes time for it to catch. Only recently would i say that it actually became a feasible option to use for full field applications and i think you will start seeing more and more of them as time goes on. That being said, it is not for everyone either, its a lot easier to make a phone call to the coop and have the helicopter come in and spray your whole farm in a day than spraying 35 acres an hour with a drone (most i had was 45/h this summer). Im not going to say drones are for young guys, but i have noticed that generally if there is a farm that owns one there is an individual in their 20’s or 30’s thats running it. Aging population of farmers has probably deterred interest as well. They are also kind of a niche piece of equipment in my mind. Fungicides, pastures, and cover crops (in my opinion) will have to be used to justify a $35,000 purchase. Not all farms can swing that, but can be a very easy return if you are size-able enough to make it cash flow

It is happening in a large way at field levels. Drones were spraying foliar fungicides all over Missouri last summer, and we’ve sprayed nearly 10k acres on our own farm in upstate New York using drones.

1) Acres per hour. 2) acres per hour 3) acres per hour I currently see them used in a support roll to aircraft. However don’t have a capacity to replace aircraft. It’s takes 2 - 3 drones working together with a 4 man crew to achieve any kind of scale

The way I see it is that it is a tool for specific situations. In some areas, it's being used a lot more than in others and I think it has a lot to do with expertise and support. Also, look at the regulations that have to adapt to this technology.