Agricultural Expert: Spray Drone Technology Outpacing Federal Regulations

A Rutgers extension agent says spray drones offer significant benefits to farmers but warns that federal regulations haven't kept pace with the rapidly advancing technology. The expert recommends hiring professional drone services rather than purchasing equipment due to complex legal requirements and safety concerns.

ATLANTIC CITY — Agricultural spray drones offer tremendous possibilities for farming operations, according to Adam Kyle from Warren County Rutgers Cooperative Extension, but federal oversight agencies like the FAA and FDA haven’t kept up with the rapid technological advances in safe drone spraying applications.

During a presentation at the Northeast Ag Expo in late January, Kyle discussed both the benefits and challenges surrounding spray drones that can help farmers reduce costs and save valuable time.

Farmers have shown increasing interest in spray drone technology over recent years, Kyle noted, particularly because the equipment proves valuable during wet conditions when conventional machinery cannot access fields.

“A lot of the companies that sell you drones offer you a waiver package which is typically a good thing,” Kyle said. “The issue is I see a lot of farmers and companies that buy spray drones don’t usually read those exemptions exactly to a tee, so they’re good to fly them but they don’t understand everything they’re legally required to do.”

Kyle warned that misunderstanding these exemption requirements can create significant problems, especially since the FAA has only informal guidelines rather than comprehensive regulations for spray drone operations.

“They have sets of regulations for smaller drones, but for the spray drone they have no formal sets of regulations yet, this is why it’s so complicated,” he explained. Despite the expanding market, most drone companies lack sufficient personnel to meet growing demand from farms requesting services, particularly in northwestern New Jersey where Kyle works.

“A lot of farmers have asked me if they should get their own spray drone,” he said, describing this as a complex decision given current circumstances, though he acknowledged that drone service companies are experiencing rapid growth “and that seems to be mostly a good thing.”

Kyle recommended viewing spray drone technology as an additional farming tool, particularly useful for accessing wet fields or areas blocked by forests and difficult terrain. For now, he suggests hiring professional drone crews might be the safest approach.

“The drone doesn’t really care about terrain or road access,” he said.

Purchasing spray drone equipment requires substantial investment, with American-manufactured units typically costing more than Chinese-built alternatives.

“I’ve heard rumors from people that the FAA was going to regulate spray drones, but so far they have not been forthcoming. I know the FAA is working to create a formal set of regulations just like part 107 where you could just go and take a class at a community college and be able to take it online and then go take a test and be a certified drone pilot, but right now that’s not where it is and that’s why it’s so complicated with spray drones.”

Safety concerns with larger spraying drones include entanglement in electrical power lines and potential interference with roadway traffic.

“If you have 100 liters of [potential] poison flying in the air, imagine if that goes out into the road or someone crashes into that. If you look online you can see that happening, you see them getting tangled in power lines all the time, people think of drones traditionally as a toy.”

Kyle said his growing understanding of spray drone safety challenges helps him comprehend “the more I understand why the FAA is kind of nervous about it, because the sprayers have tons of autonomous capabilities.”

Modern drones include video and audio safety systems designed to prevent collisions, he explained, “but the issue is people get frustrated with these things and sometimes they turn them off or lower the thresholds, so it won’t see a really thin branch or a really thin wire. It might see it sometimes but it also might not see it and it’ll fly right into that wire and now you have a $60,000 spray gun entangled in power lines.”