ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER TECHNOLOGY 26 With proper use, drones could offer a revolutionary technological advantage in spray applications. But what’s the right way to use a drone? One expert says it’s still too early to say. Jason Deveau, application technology specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, says drone technology is advancing so quickly that it’s far outpacing our understanding of how such novel platforms affect spray application performance. As the enthusiasm for spray drones grows, Deveau cautions crop growers that there is still much to learn. “Patience has run out for many,” he says. “It shouldn’t be dismissed how much fun drones are, and on paper, how much they promise is like a siren song. But in practice, it’s easier to blow it than to get it right. Science and testing take time. That can be hard to swallow when it looks like our (U.S.) neighbours have an advantage and we don’t. But is it really all it’s cracked up to be?” RAPID DEVELOPMENT Developments from drone manufacturing giant DJI highlight just how far spray drone technology has come over the last 10 years. Speaking at the 2026 Southwest Agricultural Conference, Deveau pointed to the company’s 2015 release of a rotary quadcopter with 10-litre tank capacity, hydraulic nozzles, and an operational speed of “well under 25 kilometres per hour.” That seemed like a big deal at the time. Then in 2021, DJI reached the 25 km per hour goalpost. The next year saw the introduction of the DJI T40, which featured a 40-litre tank and rotary atomizer nozzles. The most recent model, the T100, was released with a 100-litre capacity, rotary atomizers, and a maximum speed of 72 km per hour. “That’s how fast this is changing,” Deveau says. Interest in the agricultural applications of drone technology has generated interest “the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long time” from people outside agriculture, he says, let alone among farmers themselves. According to Deveau, the drone market is experiencing “a gold rush” of investment, including from those offering custom application services but who have little or no experience in agricultural uses, or even pesticide application. Even farmers and others who do indeed have input application experience are themselves dependent on what Deveau calls “information from colourful brochures,” not real-world data. “There’s no training program per se. You have 50 grand, and enough money to throw it on a trailer? You can be a custom operator. No matter if you’ve never worked in agriculture before,” Deveau says. “Where are the checks and balances? That lack of understanding is why education and this base research is so important. What are the limitations of this equipment? The problem is not necessarily the drones. The drones can do what the drones can do. The problem is often how people are planning to use them.” DROPLET DYNAMICS How droplets act when applied from drone systems is key to understanding of efficiency. Like watercraft, planes and helicopters leave a “wake” as they fly over the field. Spray droplets follow that wake, falling over the target area. By contrast, drones produce a continuous downwash of air directly below-and-behind. That downwash makes swath width hard to predict, as the drone itself is acting like a single, air-assisted hollow cone nozzle. This is less of a problem in orchards or similar speciality crops where product would otherwise be applied with an air blast sprayer. But it makes for complicated operation in row crops where a uniform threshold dose is critical. “Ostensibly, there’s too much [product] directly under the drone, and then it just tapers off on each end. Unless there’s a light wind. And then, who knows?” Deveau says. That means operators must assume Matt McIntosh Are spray drones getting ahead of themselves? This novel technology is advancing much faster than our understanding of its applicability and efficacy As the enthusiasm for spray drones grows, this expert raises some fundamental questions about using them.
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