Ag drones challenge federal regulators

Jan 16, 2025

Dust swirled as the 83-pound drone launched from a clearing near a Nebraska cornfield. With its four propellers humming, Paige Browning used a handheld controller to move the drone across the field, spraying a mist of fungicide on crops below.

“You think in your head it’s going to be fun — cool job, right?” said Browning, a Nebraska rancher who started flying agricultural drones two years ago with her father and uncle. “But when you get into the nitty gritty and actually doing it, it’s a very dirty job.”

Browning is one of around 1,000 pilots authorized to fly agricultural drones in the U.S., according to a spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration. Around 85% of those pilots were approved last year.

Agricultural drones cost between $30,000 and $50,000 but are cheaper than traditional crop-dusting airplanes. The drones also spread chemicals and seeds more efficiently by getting closer to the ground, especially around hilly terrain, telephone poles and oddly shaped fields.

However, the agricultural drone industry is much more complex than traditional “backyard” drones flown by hobbyists. With a width sometimes exceeding 35 feet, the drones can cause significant damage in a crash.

Flight patterns must also be carefully monitored as the chemicals they spread can be toxic to farmworkers on the ground.

Federal regulators are struggling to keep up with the emerging technology and the flood of pilot applications, which topped 1,200 during the first six months of 2024, according to an Investigate Midwest analysis of October records.

But just as the agricultural drone industry has started to take off, a proposed federal ban last year on Chinese manufacturers threatened to ground much of the sector.

“We’ve been working really hard to educate various members of Congress in the House and Senate as well as in the USDA about the benefits of spray drones,” said Mariah Scott, CEO of Rantizo, an Iowa-based drone dealer. “These are really useful tools that are creating great jobs in rural communities. They’re helping farmers treat their acres more efficiently and more cost-effectively.”

Before getting a specific Agricultural Aircraft Operator Certificate, which allows a drone pilot to use chemicals, a person must first complete training and secure a basic drone license.

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Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?