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Drones offer timely spray, yet on limited acres

A graduate student at the University of Missouri says using spray drones presents some opportunities, but it doesn’t come without some challenges.

“So you’re limited on acreage, and it takes more people to run them.”

Trace Thompson tells Brownfield there are some commercial operators who are doing 30 acres in an hour.

“How good is your set-up, how far is the drone going before it starts applying, how fast are you flying the drone and how fast can you refill, remix and refit the drone every time it comes back ‘cause as we know it’s not going to go as near as far as the ground rig is. So all those play a factor in how fast you can operate one of these drones.”

He says drones are good for use in-between rains in addition to fields that may be difficult to get to with a field sprayer.

“We know right now that water hemps becoming a problem with a lot of resistance, and we need to make timely applications.”

Stangler recently interviewed Thompson during the University of Missouri Pest Management Field Day in Columbia, Missouri.

AUDIO: Trace Thompson, University of Missouri