Agriculture Drones: Prices, Spraying and Uses

What farm drones are used for

Drones for farming fall into two families, and they are priced and regulated very differently. Imaging drones carry a camera, sometimes multispectral or thermal, and fly a grid to build a detailed map of a field. Spray drones carry a tank and nozzles, or a spreader for seed and granular fertilizer, and apply products directly from the air.

The use of drones in agriculture has grown fastest in spraying. Spray drones can work fields too wet for a tractor, tall crops a ground rig would damage, steep slopes, terraces and small or awkward blocks. Imaging drones are used for plant counts, trial plots, checking storm or pest damage, and taking a close look at a problem patch. Our articles on the benefits of drone spraying and agriculture drone sensors go into each in more detail.

What sets an agricultural drone’s price

The question we hear most is what an agricultural drone costs. Prices change quickly as new models arrive, so we won’t quote figures here; the pricing articles in this hub track them with dates. What moves the agricultural drone price is fairly stable, though:

• Payload. A larger tank or hopper covers more acres per flight and costs more.
• Batteries and charging. Spray drones get through batteries quickly, so most operators buy several sets and a generator or fast charger, which can add a large share to the purchase.
• Positioning. RTK GPS for accurate, repeatable flight lines usually costs extra.
• Software, training, licensing, insurance and maintenance, which recur every year.

Agriculture drone services pricing works the other way round: you pay per acre, usually with a minimum charge. The rate depends on the application volume per acre, field size and shape, obstacles such as power lines and trees, travel distance and whether the operator supplies the product. Compare quotes on the same basis. Our guides to what drone services cost per acre and farming drone prices cover the numbers.

Rules for drone spraying

Spraying from a drone is aerial application, and most countries regulate it more tightly than flying a camera. In the US, the FAA explains the requirements on its page about dispensing chemicals and agricultural products with drones. In short, the operator needs a remote pilot certificate and an agricultural aircraft operator certificate under Part 137, and drones of 55 pounds or more, which includes most spray drones once loaded, also need an exemption under Section 44807. On top of that, states require a pesticide applicator license, and the product label has to allow aerial application.

Elsewhere the rules differ widely. The EU’s sustainable use directive generally prohibits aerial spraying of pesticides, with limited exemptions set by each member state, while several countries in Asia and Latin America have created specific permits for spray drones. Check with your national aviation authority and pesticide regulator before buying.

Hiring a drone spraying service

If you are looking for drone spraying near you, these questions sort out the serious operators quickly:

1. Can you show your aviation certificates and pesticide applicator license?
2. What insurance do you carry, and does it cover drift onto a neighbor’s crop?
3. What swath width, droplet size and application volume will you use for this product, and how do you calibrate?
4. How do you handle wind limits, buffer zones near water and sensitive crops?
5. Will I get a record of where and when each product was applied?

Ask how the product will go on, too. Spray drones usually apply far less water per acre than a ground rig, so the product label has to allow low-volume aerial application, and coverage inside a dense canopy depends on droplet size, flight height and speed. A good operator will talk you through these settings before the first flight and keep a log of each job.

Be realistic about where drones fit. On large, flat, dry fields a ground boom sprayer or a crop-dusting plane usually covers ground faster per hour. Drones earn their place on the wet, steep, small or tall-crop fields where those machines struggle.

Drones and satellites side by side

Drones and satellites are often compared, but they answer different questions. A drone image shows individual plants at centimeter detail, but only when someone flies it. Public satellites such as Sentinel-2 see 10-meter detail across the whole farm each time they pass, cloud permitting, and build a record through the season without anyone going out.

Many growers use both: a satellite map to find the zones that need attention, then a drone or a scout to look closely. Our satellite crop monitoring works from satellites only, with no drones or sensors involved, and reports crop health, water need, soil, yield and pest risk for each field.