Agricultural drone spraying is no passing fad — at least according to KD Bohon.
Bohon is the Business Development Manager at Agri Spray Drones, so, of course that’s what you would expect him to say. But a captivated audience at a recent spray demo in Jackson, Tenn., tells its own story. As do the numbers of spray drones heading to farms.
“We’ve sold around 350 units just this summer,” said Bohon, “which is a huge jump over the previous year. This technology is really gaining momentum.”
Bohon demoed the Agras T-30, an 8-gallon spray drone that can cover 30 acres per hour on average, according to the company. After importing a field boundary and parameters, the drone flies autonomously, returning to the loading site when the tank is empty and batteries need charging.
“Typically, people who see the drone in action are very impressed,” Bohon said. “We still get some skeptics who say, ‘If I can’t get 600 acres a day, I don’t want it.’ But many of our users have found that in certain circumstances the drone is better than planes or choppers because the timing is optimal.”
One such user is Hunter Burks, a farmer in western Tennessee who purchased two drones from Agri Spray after seeing a spray demo in a fellow farmers’ field.
“I think it’s really going to be something,” Burks said. “How many times when we need to be spraying is it either too muddy to get in the field, or we can’t get a plane scheduled? Wait long enough and that adds up to yield lost. I see a lot of opportunity with drones.”
Continue reading: https://www.farmprogress.com/sprayer/agricultural-drone-spraying-taking
Bohon is the Business Development Manager at Agri Spray Drones, so, of course that’s what you would expect him to say. But a captivated audience at a recent spray demo in Jackson, Tenn., tells its own story. As do the numbers of spray drones heading to farms.
“We’ve sold around 350 units just this summer,” said Bohon, “which is a huge jump over the previous year. This technology is really gaining momentum.”
Bohon demoed the Agras T-30, an 8-gallon spray drone that can cover 30 acres per hour on average, according to the company. After importing a field boundary and parameters, the drone flies autonomously, returning to the loading site when the tank is empty and batteries need charging.
“Typically, people who see the drone in action are very impressed,” Bohon said. “We still get some skeptics who say, ‘If I can’t get 600 acres a day, I don’t want it.’ But many of our users have found that in certain circumstances the drone is better than planes or choppers because the timing is optimal.”
One such user is Hunter Burks, a farmer in western Tennessee who purchased two drones from Agri Spray after seeing a spray demo in a fellow farmers’ field.
“I think it’s really going to be something,” Burks said. “How many times when we need to be spraying is it either too muddy to get in the field, or we can’t get a plane scheduled? Wait long enough and that adds up to yield lost. I see a lot of opportunity with drones.”
Continue reading: https://www.farmprogress.com/sprayer/agricultural-drone-spraying-taking
