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Farmers who use drones to apply substances scientifically find them effective, and convenient. Aerial spraying no longer means renting the services of crop dusters and their airplanes or a helicopter and pilot. Instead, agricultural drones give farmers more control over their fields, crops, time, finances, and success through better crop management. The window for applying substances is often a small one. The threat of disease spreading rapidly or weather that hinders plane or helicopter flights can shut the window quickly. Farmers with spray drones, however, don’t have to wait. They don’t have to worry about the availability of pilots or their manned aircraft. Applications are thorough and effective, precisely metered and evenly dispersed. And because control is complete, spraying by drone is safe. How Spray Drones Work Substance concentrates must be mixed with water before being poured into the spray tanks. Once substances are in the tank, the drone uses its program to order pressure from an onboard pump, sending substances through spray lines and specially designed auto-adjustable nozzles to disperse fungicides, herbicides, or nutrients. Spray Drones’ Features: Larger tanks: The bigger the tank, the greater the area the drone can spray on just one load. A bigger tank means fewer refills and less downtime during a day of spraying. Obstacle avoidance: Nothing enhances safety more than a drone’s ability to sense obstacles and avoid them. Speed-adjusted spraying: If a drone with this capability speeds up or slows down, the amount of substances it disperses increases or decreases. That keeps the substance delivery uniform and safe. Water resistance: Higher IP ratings mean better protection against rain and other moisture, including residue from the spray. Agras drones have an IP 67 rating, at least for core modules and on newer models. Spray Drone Advantages Spray drones can go when and where land-based sprayers and airplanes can’t. Mud might keep your land-based sprayer in the barn, but not your drone. If a field adjoins another farmer’s land, or maybe even multiple farms, a plane won’t be able to fly over and release substances too near the neighbors. Sometimes plane flights can even affect your crops in an adjacent field when plants are incompatible with the substance. For example, a spray drone can slow down, even hover, and adjust the amount of substances it releases to correspond with its changing speed. Cloud cover might ground a plane; a low-flying drone, however, usually can fly beneath clouds and complete work. Drones cost less, too. A self-propelled ground sprayer can cost $50,000 to $85,000, even more. Self-propelled sprayers with 80- or 100-foot booms can cost more than a quarter-million dollars. A spray drone will cost a fraction of either type of ground sprayer. Amortized over its life, a properly maintained drone sprayer should cost less than contracting out spraying. Although the drone system will cost more than a tow-behind sprayer, it will not have the fuel costs of anything ground-based. And you’re almost certain to spend less on maintenance for the drone than for big, complicated sprayers.
