@R.Perry – Thank you for illuminating some of the many MISCONCEPTIONS that drone operators, farmers, and manned aircraft applicators (crop dusters) have regarding the use of drones in agriculture.
Misconception #1 - Wrong Tool for the Job
Just like you would not use a John Deere 9520 RX to mow a lawn, you would not use a drone to spray 1000 acres of grapes, wheat, corn, etc. Conversely, using a drone to spray 5 to 30 acres of a high value crop provides, in most cases, a better use case and a higher value proposition than a CaseIH Patriot® 4440 (spreading the big iron brands around so as not to offend!) or a Cessna 188 (or a Jet Ranger).
The current reality (in the under 55lb class of UAS) is that the niche for using drones to spray is limited to small to medium size farms (5 to 30 acres) growing high value crops (Grapes, Apples, Citrus, Berries, Tomatoes, etc) not 50 to 2000 acres of low value crops (wheat, corn, soybeans, etc)
Misconception #2 – Every Farmer Needs Drone Acquired Crop Health Maps
Why do you suppose pitching crop health maps (ie NDVI, counts, contours, etc) is such a “hard sell” to farmers? Could it be that there is a lower value proposition than the cost (ie outputs have minimal or no value to a farmer)?
The current reality (in the under 55lb class of UAS) is that using drones for crop health is also a very limited niche. And, there are competing and more integrated options for farmers to acquire, interpret, and execute a plan based on more real time micro level field data.
Misconception #3 – Government (Fed, State, Local) are out to prohibit Drone Use in Ag
Are there regulatory hurdles for using drones is Ag? Yes. Are the regulator hurdles even greater for using drones to spray? YES. Why do you suppose there are so many regulatory hurdles? One word - Safety.
The current reality (in all classes of UAS) is that using drones for spraying is
illegal without the proper federal, state, and aircraft certifications. But the good news is that there is a clear (albeit complex) path to obtain the necessary certifications to conduct spraying missions with drones legally.
Misconception #4 – Just Because You can, You should
Could you spray 100+ acres with drones? Yes. Should you? If you do your due diligence (risk assessment, cost/benefit analysis, regulatory hurdles, etc), the logical answer is NO – there are better tools to get that kind of job done.
Can you use a drone with various (expensive!) sensors to generate crop health maps? Yes. Should you? Unless you can validate that someone is willing to pay you more than your costs (including labor/living wage) or that, as a farmer, it provides something that you can't get some other way for less cost, then the fiscally responsible answer is NO (or maybe yes if you are looking for a hobby).
And that same cost/benefit/risk analysis exercise should be the driver for other non ag use cases for drones (such as drone deliveries).
Margins in Ag are tight and growing crops is risky. Drone technologies looking to solve a problem will most likely flounder but problems that can be solved (better, faster, cheaper) with drones will thrive.
Best Use Cases (and how to use drones in Ag legally)
If drone operators, farmers, and manned aircraft application operators can get past these misconceptions, the
2021 UAS Ag Summit will be an opportunity to address other misconceptions and provide valuable information on compliance and the best use cases for drones in agriculture.