A drone lifts off at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show at Woodstock, Ont., this September. There are no agricultural pesticides currently approved for application with drones, so agronomists must exercise caution when asked for advice on the practice.

Be wary when asked about spraying with drones

Farmers may ask for advice, but answering may get you in hot water

It could happen anytime. As drone fever sweeps across Western Canada, a farmer is eventually going to ask an agrologist or crop advisor to teach them how to spray pesticides with drones. What do you do? Igor de Albuquerque advises extreme caution. “If the product in question does not include drone usage on its label, […] Read more


A spray drone used water to demonstrate the technology’s potential during a Prairie Fruit Growers Association farm tour in Manitoba in June.

Drone spraying sees some lift toward label approvals

Work is ongoing to satisfy Canada’s regulators and get drones added to pesticide labels

Glacier FarmMedia — The ray of hope might be dim right now, but farmers wanting to legally spray pesticides on their crops using drones may be seeing the first hint of light at the end of the tunnel. Ross Breckels, a senior scientific evaluator with Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), said the process […] Read more

The Stratus AirSprayer in flight at the Spaceport America testing facility in New Mexico during the spring of 2024.

Switching to glide

Precision AI’s new autonomous Stratus AirSprayer can carry bigger loads and fly longer than conventional ag drones

For decades, farmers have used boom sprayers in their fields to protect crops from weeds, disease and insect pests. They’ve also relied on crop dusters, which first took flight 100 years or so ago. The advent of drone technology has ushered in a new age in aerial spraying. Today, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market […] Read more