Agricultural Drones Poised To Make Affordable Aerial Weed-Fighting Crop Protection Available To Small Farmers

By Chelsea Dinterman

As farmers wrestle with increased weed resistance to herbicides, new management techniques offer modernized ways to combat weeds. Rapid improvements in drone technology have allowed farmers to attack hardy herbicide-resistant weeds from the sky.

Drones eliminate the need for heavy ground rigs to pass over the field and offer a more precise application than traditional aerial application methods such as helicopters and airplanes.

“Some fields are less than 20 acres, so a lot of times a helicopter won’t spray there because of the hazards to the pilot and equipment,” [Rantizo employee Ben] Johnson says, but drones are able to effectively fly into smaller areas and make applications that would be difficult for larger equipment.

A drone’s design also boosts application efficiency compared to larger counterparts. The propellers naturally drive products deeper into the plant canopy, allowing herbicides and fungicides to work more effectively.

While drone applications won’t work for every operation, farmers with certain conditions may want to consider adding them to their management plans.