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Drone spraying herbicides…is that done?

P

Pops

PMA Member
I killed and burned some cedars 2.5 years ago. Autumn olives just blew up. I hope to get rid of most of them and they are not easily accessible on foot. I’ve wondered if a drone could be utilized for spraying.
I plan on following with a tree planting the following year.
Thanks for your thoughts.
 
My neighbor quit using drones for his ground due to their payload limitation.

You will either end up with quite a few trips, or in his case underspraying and not killing what you intend to (worse off, likely creating resistant strains that could be tougher to kill later).

All that said, it's worth a shot if you have access to one. I would just be careful and ensure your rate is correct.
 
I have had it done on some direct seeded tree plots in the past. One thing that does limit it is there are a good number of herbacides that can't be applied by air. Something to look at. Also volume of water required for a herbacide, say clethodim that requires 20 gal of water or more per acre. That would add alot of trips

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Oct-Lull said:
I have had it done on some direct seeded tree plots in the past. One thing that does limit it is there are a good number of herbacides that can't be applied by air. Something to look at. Also volume of water required for a herbacide, say clethodim that requires 20 gal of water or more per acre. That would add alot of trips

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Don’t know why but aerial applications do not use the same amount of water.
We have a lot of crop dusters down here in Georgia and many chemicals are put out with 6 gallons of water.

Op,

Not sure why it wouldn’t work. They use them down here in the south. If they didn’t work, they wouldn’t stay in business very long.
 
Nightvision said:
Don’t know why but aerial applications do not use the same amount of water.
We have a lot of crop dusters down here in Georgia and many chemicals are put out with 6 gallons of water.

Op,

Not sure why it wouldn’t work. They use them down here in the south. If they didn’t work, they wouldn’t stay in business very long.
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The label states on a bunch of chemicals they are not allowed for Arial applications. I am sure there is alot going on, fungicide especially. Not all chemicals are suitable

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Oct-Lull said:
The label states on a bunch of chemicals they are not allowed for Arial applications. I am sure there is alot going on, fungicide especially. Not all chemicals are suitable

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Very true.
But I would think there are some. If so, I don’t see why the drone would not work.
 
It works great from what we can tell - in very early stages. Doing 90 acres of honeysuckle / autumn olive this fall as a true test. I will update this thread as we know more. Very short window is the only drawback we see. Maybe $75-$100 acre cost to landowner, herbicide included. Sure beats a backpack sprayer if it works! Lost of testing yet to do to bring to market, will update this thread here.
 
justinkarns said:
It works great from what we can tell - in very early stages. Doing 90 acres of honeysuckle / autumn olive this fall as a true test. I will update this thread as we know more. Very short window is the only drawback we see. Maybe $75-$100 acre cost to landowner, herbicide included. Sure beats a backpack sprayer if it works! Lost of testing yet to do to bring to market, will update this thread here.
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Please let us know. I have a year so so to figure it out. Thanks
 
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