How This 25 Year Old Built a 15K Acre Spray Drone Business in 3 Seasons | The DroneOn Show Ep 48

In episode 48 of the DroneOn Show episode, Mike sits down with 25-year-old Caden Wilburn of C&J Spray Drones in Laddonia, Missouri. Caden shares how he launched his drone spraying operation to carve out his own space on the family farm (1200 crop acres + 2400 hogs) and has now covered roughly 15,000 acres in just three seasons. He talks about starting with T40s, upgrading to two T50s, and seriously considering the T100, while running long, efficient passes on flat, square Missouri fields. The conversation covers fungicide as his main work, expanding into aquatic weed control on ponds and lakes, trailer setups, generator choices, family business decisions, and realistic advice for new operators on regulations, patience, and staying competitive in a fast-moving industry. Chapters (00:00:00) - Getting Started in the Drone Industry(00:03:07) - How To Hydrate With A T100(00:06:46) - How to spray a lot of wheat(00:07:14) - Flying a drone from a trailer(00:09:41) - Would You Upgrade to a T100 Drone?(00:14:17) - Do You Need A Generator For Your Drone?(00:18:03) - DJI's Generator Is Genius(00:21:46) - Is a Hybrid Drone Necessary?(00:24:35) - DRone: M30T Drone Relays(00:28:33) - How To Water Lily Pads(00:32:32) - Don't Let Invasive Growth Grow in Your Ponds(00:36:57) - Do drones help with aquatics?(00:38:54) - Getting Started with a Drone Business(00:42:41) - Would You Buy Your Drone From New Way AG?(00:46:02) - Drone Pilots: Should You Branch Out?(00:48:07) - Reasons to Buy a Drone Trailer(00:52:42) - New Way Trailer: The Toolbox