From FFA Project to Multi-Crew Operation: Hayden’s Spray Drone Journey at 20 | DroneOn Show Ep 44

In this DroneOn Show episode, Mike sits down with 20-year-old Hayden Crum from Midwest Air in southern Ohio. Hayden shares how he started his spray drone business as a freshman in high school through an FFA project, grew it alongside his family’s retail chemical and seed business, and is now in his sixth season of applications. At just 20, he’s already running multiple crews, selling DJI, XAG, and Talos drones, and expanding into specialty work like power line right-of-way spraying and invasive species control in forests. The conversation covers real talk on drought challenges, nighttime spraying, T60X reliability, the T100’s strengths and limitations, growing pains with hiring, and why diversifying beyond row crops is key. Hayden also explains his customer-obsessed approach to matching the right drone to each operator and why building strong relationships matters more than ever in a competitive space. Chapters (00:00:00) - Drone on Air(00:00:52) - Helping others with their drone business(00:03:47) - Drones for Agriculture, Small Business(00:05:57) - Midwest Airline: Drone Sales and Application(00:07:17) - DJI vs Talos: Drone Sales(00:09:15) - Is DJI's UAV Too Big for Orchard?(00:12:00) - What Drone Should You Use?(00:15:42) - Is the T60 Drone Safe?(00:17:51) - Buzzing Around With the Talos(00:18:55) - Drones for corn: Night ops(00:21:15) - Do You Need a Generator For Your XAG DJI?(00:24:48) - Diesel generators(00:25:20) - Reasons Behind Starting a Drone Business(00:28:43) - Farm Cents: Deer Recovery on the Podcast(00:32:05) - Farmers Help with Drone Deer Recovery(00:32:59) - Flying a drone at 20 years old(00:34:10) - Have you gotten any heat from traditional aerial application companies? Drone or(00:38:05) - Drones Give Farmers More Control(00:39:08) - How to Spray Power Lines in a Hard Year(00:43:10) - Herbicides Ready for the Smoke(00:44:13) - Do Power Lines Need to Be sprayed?(00:48:57) - Reasons to Start a Spray Drone Business(00:52:56) - XAG atomizer vs DJI: How to spray honeys(00:56:47) - Dozens of acres of honeysuckle sprayed in Montana(00:59:18) - How to Control Autumn Olive(01:02:05) - "Don't Take Too Much Risk" By Tim Ferriss(01:02:30) - TALKING TECHNOLOGY