Crop Dusting Drones

Crop dusting drones have many advantages over other agricultural spraying methods such as manual spraying with backpacks, application from a ground rig or manned aerial application.

In this article, I’ll go through 5 crop dusting drones and compare them with the popular Agras T40.

Contents hide

1 Introduction to Crop Dusting Drones

2 Are crop dusting drones better than ground based sprayers?

3 What is the best crop-dusting drone?

4 Crop Dusting Drone Comparison Table

5 Hylio 130 Crop Dusting Drone

6 XAG P100 Agricultural Drone Sprayer

7 BroUAV D52L-8

8 The Wrap Up On Crop Dusting Drones

Introduction to Crop Dusting Drones

Crop dusting is used extensively in agriculture to improve crop yields and protect crops from pests and diseases, helping to ensure a stable food supply in an industry that’s facing many challenges with consistent production thanks to extreme climate events.

Manned light aircraft have traditionally been the fastest application method, but this form of crop dusting has its downsides. Crop dusting via plane comes at a high cost, it’s distributed at a set rate over the entire field and has a significant amount of waste or overspray which can lead to negative health and environmental impacts.

Tractors and other ground-based rig are another common method of crop dusting but are generally height limited and are susceptible to getting stuck in water-logged fields and rough or steep terrain.

Prior to crop dusting drones, mini-helicopters such as the RMAX were a popular alternative. They tend to have much longer flight times of up to an hour but come at a far higher price.

Crop dusting drones are generally less expensive than most farm equipment and can be flown by the farmer or an employee once certified. The FAA regulations on chemical handling and agricultural drone operations are controlled under Part 137. Each pilot needs to have a Part 107 license and petition for an exemption to carry hazardous materials.

Crop dusting drones are fitted with tanks that are loaded with dry pellets or liquid chemicals. The sprayers are generally located under each rotor arm and can be automated to start and stop spraying or change the spray rate according to a flight plan. Advancements in technology are further simplifying this so that the drone automatically changes the crop dusting parameters according to feedback from the visual sensors, such as the Agras T40.

Are crop dusting drones better than ground based sprayers?

If the crop being treated is smaller than 50ha then crop dusting drones are more effective than ground based sprayers like tractors*. In larger fields, the short flight time of drones will impact the amount of time allocated to spraying as they also need to fly to and from each leg of the crop-dusting path to re-fill and swap out the battery.

However, crop dusting drones have many advantages over vehicle based fertiliser and pesticide spraying.

Drones can treat water-logged field and don’t get stuck like heavy ground-based vehicles.
Crop dusting drones can access steep and rough terrain such as hilly vineyards.
Drones can also be fitted with imaging and photography equipment to map the field. This is useful for identifying water pooling from irrigation, crop photosynthesis, pest infestations, weed growth and capture crop progress over time.

What is the best crop-dusting drone?

The Agras T40 is one of the most popular and, in my opinion, the best crop dusting drone available at the moment. The Agras T40 capabilities are on par, if not better than its competitors and a fraction of the cost… But what else would you expect from drone giant DJI? DJI released the first crop dusting multirotor drone in 2012 (Agras T8) and have been continually tweaking and improving the design over the years.

One reason that some companies look for alternatives to DJI is because of concerns around data privacy as they were added to the US Entity List by the Industry and Security Bureau in 2020.

The XAG P100 is a good alternative, it has the same waterproof rating, similar payload capacity and a modular design to make it easier to transport.

Crop Dusting Drone Comparison Table

	Cost	Flight Time Unloaded	Flight Time Loaded	Payload	Flow rate
TTA G200	$	20 mins	10-13 mins	16L	4 L/min
DJI T40	$$	18 mins	7 mins	50kg pellets 40kg / 70L liquid	6 L/min
XAG P100	$$$	17 mins	7 mins	50kg / 40L	12 L/min
Bro UAV	$$$$	30 mins	10-13 mins	52L	3-20 L/min
Hylio 130	$$$$$	30 mins	10-15 mins	30kg / 30L	0.4-10 L/min

Hylio 130 Crop Dusting Drone

The Hylio 130 is the most expensive option of these crop dusting drones. It can carry a payload of up to 30L or 30kg. Hylio is Houston based and specialise in agriculture drones. Hylio have differentiated themselves by focusing on ease of use. Unlike other crop dusting drones, most of the drone piloting is automated.

Hylio AG drones only require a few clicks from the drone pilot, the flight path is all pre-planned in the software. The area that needs crop dusting is outlined with a polygon, the flight metrics are set like the altitude, speed and spray rate then the drone pilot just deploys the drone. The Hylio Ag drone automatically returns when it needs new batteries, liquids refilled or when the route is complete.

XAG P100 Agricultural Drone Sprayer

The XAG P100 crop dusting drone is one of the better designed options. It features a 1 / 2.9 inch CMOS sensor, a dual pump system (which is great if one pump fails) and positional accuracy down to 1cm. The battery only takes 11 minutes to charge which is important when the flight time of crop dusting drones is so short. This means two batteries can be repeatedly interchanged to complete the job.

This crop dusting drone also has a good IP rating. A rating of IPX7 means that this drone is waterproof and corrosion resistant.

Obstacle Avoidance: The obstacle avoidance system on the XAG P100 can use the terrain sensor to maintain a constant 0.5 to 100m from vegetation.

Modular design: Crop dusting drones are big machines compared to hobby drones so they can carry significantly larger payloads. XAG have kept this in mind when designing the P100 with its detachable design. The flying mechanism completely separates from the task systems making it easier to transport and move when not in use.

BroUAV D52L-8

The BroUAV has all the basic functions we’d expect in a crop dusting drone but it’s far from user friendly and I have some concerns about the safety of flying this drone.

The good stuff:

The BroUAV has AB point mode which has both automatic and manual control
Route planning: set the boundary, map out the obstacles and let the crop dusting drone cover the area at the given heading.
One click return to automatically fly the drone to the location it was last spraying before re-filling or swapping out a battery.
Has the option of a higher spray rate than most crop dusting drones with a spray rate range of 3-20L per minute

The not-so-good stuff :

The controls and set-up are overly complicated compared to other crop dusting drones
The drone won’t accept manual intervention from the controller during the return home. This is a major concern, The lack of manual override at any point when flying a drone can lead to a collision and either cause harm or lead to a very expensive repair.
Limited ability to handle low spray rates of less than 3L / minute

The Wrap Up On Crop Dusting Drones

Crop dusting drones can be game changing for farmers with crops less than 50 hectares, they are efficient, more affordable than other options and have the benefit of a variable spray rate for precision application. Studies have shown that less chemicals are needed and more uniform crops are being produced.

We recommend the DJI Agras T40 for its balance of being well-priced and its features compared to its competitors. However, a couple of alternative options are the XAG P100 for its super-fast battery charge time and good waterproofing, or the Hylio Ag drones for their focus on simple, straightforward ease of use.

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Reference:

*CropLife International Stewardship Guidance for use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Application of crop protection products, Brussels Belgium.