The global market for agricultural drones is expected to reach $30 billion by 2032, a 35% increase.
So it's no surprise that Apple Farm Service, with stores in College Corner, Ind., and Washington Court House, Ohio, had a special event Friday, unveiling its partnership with Hylio spraying drones.
"It's at that stage where it's new and it's cool and it's fascinating, and people are adopting the technology," says Precision Farming Manager Alex Ryan.
Ryan, with a background in drones at Ohio State University, was hired to propel Apple Farms into the future. He and others expect farmers to adopt this technology within two years. "And we're in year one, so these conversations are really easy to have with farmers."
According to Marketing Manager Kent Holmes, "the nice thing about these drones is you can get a small drone that carries about two gallons of product all the way up to one that carries 18 gallons."
Farmer and President of the Ohio Farmers Union Joe Logan isn't one of the early adopters, but he knows farmers who have drones.
LISTEN: How drones can revolutionize farming
"New technology is always intriguing for farmers," Logan says. "And like most of my neighbors, I'm interested in the use of drone technology."
And while lots of farmers use drones to spot weeds, Logan hasn't heard about very many of them using unmanned aerial vehicles for spraying pesticides.
"It's going to require a lot of technology and a lot of horsepower to keep the craft aboard and a lot of capacity to hold the spray compound that you're going to need. And that's going to be a pretty darn expensive product, or, you know, compilation of technology," he says.
Apple Farm Service says the drones do have the technology. Hylio says its drones are just 10 feet above crops when they fly over them. This makes them more accurate.
How accurate are drones in spraying pesticides?
The University of Dayton is one of just two college research facilities in the U.S. approved by the EPA to test spray drift, as WVXU reported in 2019.
Experimental aerodynamacist Sid Gunesekaran tells the story of a client who was spraying a golf course with chemicals from a drone and the pesticide drifted 20 feet.
"Imagine spraying a chemical that is drifting 20 feet while there are players around?" Gunesekaran says. "That's not great."
He and other researchers like Kyle Butz with Spray Analytics are running a battery of tests and determined the place where most drones have their sprayer — under the rotor hub — maximizes spray drift.
He says there are no simple answers and the solution involves getting everyone together. UD is holding a seminar in May for farmers, chemical manufacturers, drone applicators and government officials. Gunesekaran is interested in finding the best place for the nozzle and determining what kind of nozzles would be best for drone use at that May 24-25 event.
Meanwhile, at another Dayton school, Sinclair Community College, which has had a drone program since 2008, Chair of Aviation Technology Clay Pittman agrees there will be improvements in all drones, including agriculture.
"You’re going to see larger and larger aircraft," he says. "This gives them more product capacity which is a really big thing for applying onto the fields. But it also gives them range and endurance so they can fly for a longer period of time."
Back at Apple Farm Service, Ryan says he's been talking the owners of small and large farms and they're seeing the value in this technology and the overwhelming comment is, "This is the way the future is going to go."
