News

Drones have quickly become more cost effective

A U.S. drone manufacturer says for many farmers, agricultural drones are now more cost-effective than traditional machinery. 

Arthur Erickson with Hylio Drones tells Brownfield drones have quickly gone from having a two gallons capacity to carrying more than twenty gallons, making newer drones more efficient than many traditional boom sprayers. “You could have a big 120-foot boom sprayer, sure, it’s got a large capacity but because of wet ground or difficult terrain, or fencelines and treelines, you could actually end up doing less work with that than you could with a swarm or fleet of agri-drones.”

Erickson says the rule change earlier this year allowing one operator to manage a fleet of drones also improves productivity and economics by cutting labor hours per acre. “You could be buying drones and running them for a quarter or even a fifth of the price versus traditional methods if you’re using them correctly.”

Erickson says human operators are kept busy refilling the payloads and swapping batteries but, “That is going to be automated in the next few years, and that’s where you’re going to see a real explosion in adoption, and basically there would be no reason not to buy the drones because they will truly be set-it-and-forget it and the savings are going to be astronomical, frankly.”

Once automation can manage batteries and payloads, Erickson expects farmers could see a 90% reduction in field application costs and they won’t have to spend hours driving spraying and spreading equipment.

Audio: Hylio’s Arthur Erickson discusses how drone technology has rapidly advanced to become more cost-effective than many traditional application methods, and some advice for potential future drone pilot/applicators.