E115: The Sprayer Drones of Summer

Senior Editor for The Progressive Farmer Joel Richenberger is fresh off a visit to the 2022 InfoAg conference, and has been digging into the rapidly maturing world of drone technology since his return. What was once a piece of fringe equipment used for scouting and photography has this summer grown into a valuable implement that farmers around the country are using for precision spraying. Not one but many companies are wading into the drone space, angling towards bigger machines that can carry more chemicals, while at the same time executing on highly precise instructions that may soon– companies expect, start replacing terrestrial spraying tools. We’ll get into the details around price, timelines, and what farmers are saying with Joel, and hear some hints about what the incumbent equipment players might have in store in the years ahead. We’ll talk about use cases, limitations, and what’s next.