According to Jim Love, light robotics manager for Beck’s Hybrids, there is a lot of enthusiasm throughout the industry right now for spray drones.

GIBBON, Minn. – When walking by the tech booth at the Beck’s Hybrids Minnesota Field Show in Gibbon on Aug. 17, you may have noticed a drone sitting by itself. Upon closer inspection, it appears to have some kind of tank attached to the bottom. Plus, this might just be the largest drone you’ve ever seen.

Jim Love, light robotics manager for Beck’s Hybrids, spent time teaching attendees about technology.

“As we saw some of these small robotic devices like drones and little ground rovers come into play, I basically developed this into a job for myself,” he said with a hearty laugh. “I get to play with drones regularly.”

Looking at the large drone as an example of how far that technology has come, he said it’s a simple machine. The challenge was attaching the tank and getting the spray rates correct. He says the large drone, which is a domestically-produced and supported device, is made by Hylio.

“Using drones to spray crops is typically a hot topic this time of year,” Love said. “It’s usually among farmers who waited for a spray plane that didn’t show up or who just paid the bill to the guy running the plane. There’s a lot of enthusiasm for spray drones right now.”

Spray drones are great for farmers who have odd-shaped fields. He says Kentucky is one example of a state that has fields of many different sizes. Further north, he says producers who grow pumpkins will find a spray drone is a great way to spray their crop.

“You don’t accidentally crush vines or pumpkins, and those fields typically aren’t big compared to other crops,” Love said. “They’re also great for spraying smaller sweet corn patches for earworms. I usually tell people these can cover about 100 acres a day, if not a little more than that.”

Drone regulations vary from state to state, but he said the general requirements include a 107 drone license, which Love said is “really easy to get.” Farmers who want to fly drones will learn a lot about their drones that will help keep them flying consistently.

“Farmers are flying a lot of drones in the South,” Love said. “For one thing, the products they can spray are more prevalent in the South. The labels are written favorably for drones down there. The only place I don’t see farmers using a large number of drones is in the western U.S., where the climate is more arid.

“If I were spraying a gallon in Arizona, I’m not sure I could get it all to the ground before it evaporates,” he added. “But there’s always ample humidity in Midwest and Corn Belt states to help the material get to the ground.”

It’s sort of cliché when talking about technology, but drone tech has come a long way.

“The first drone we bought to gather data was $25,000,” he recalled. “Today, you can buy a drone to do that exact job for $1,250. Those early drones struggled to fly 15 minutes before the battery ran out. This spray drone, if you flew it empty, even as big as it is, will fly for 25 or 30 minutes.”

The large spray drones can easily distribute both wet and dry material. Drones can also gather information on crop conditions and show any needed changes to management plans.

“We had a unique opportunity last summer when someone had lost their favorite 4-H heifer,” Love said. “We wound up using a thermal camera on a drone, which was interesting and a great learning experience for similar occasions in the future. When the crop would cool at night, then the heifer stood out because she was a hot spot in comparison.”

Farmers looking for more information on drones can go to auvsi.com.

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According to Jim Love, light robotics manager for Beck’s Hybrids, there is a lot of enthusiasm throughout the industry right now for spray drones.

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