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 use of drones to deliver field pesticides, such as in this illustration, has an uphill road ahead, not just in terms of regulation but in technical development.

Don’t hold your breath for a drone sprayer

The dynamics of spraying via drone are complex and unforgiving — as are regulations

Glacier FarmMedia — Precision agriculture has simplified many on-farm practices and procedures, particularly in the past five years as seen in the rush to automate tractors, planters and weed management systems. But those are two-dimensional applications, and although those can go awry and complicate a grower’s plans, adding a third dimension — in the air […] Read more


Drone provides a new field perspective

Drone provides a new field perspective

Ground truthing is still important, but drones can identify problem areas

Randi Wenzel says even basic operation of a drone over annual crops and pastures on their south-central Saskatchewan mixed farm provides some very useful management information, along with some peace of mind. Wenzel, who farms with family members south of Central Butte, has been flying a drone during the cropping and grazing seasons for the […] Read more

A drone equipped with a camera can be used to check remote watering systems, scan fencelines or check gates.

Drones. How did we farm without them?

Hart Attacks: Drone school explained how flying cameras can change the cattle business

I know I shouldn’t be amazed by anything that has to do with new technology, but it seems I always am. I recently spent part of a day at a central Alberta drone school —primarily geared to beef producers — and came away thinking it just never ends. So there I was in a community […] Read more


When I pulled up to Don’s wheat field last year on July 6, the first thing I noticed was how yellow the crop was. The crop’s development was also very uneven. For example, some plants were still at the five-leaf stage, while others had the flag leaf out with the head in the boot.

Get ready for drone sprayers

Manitoba company preparing to do custom chemical applications with drones

The use of drones in agriculture seems to gain a little more momentum every season. So far, the jobs they’ve been put to include taking NDVI images and crop scouting, among others. But one Manitoba entrepreneur thinks even with comparatively small payload capacity aerial spraying may be a good fit for the technology. Don Campbell, […] Read more

Ford and drone developer DJI are looking to integrate UAV control into a pickup’s digital system for a variety of future applications, including agriculture.

A Ford F150 sync’d to your UAV?

Ford issues a new “Drone-to-vehicle developer challenge” to software engineers

James Bond has his special Aston Martin car complete with ejection seat and all kinds of high-tech gizmos. If Ford has its way, farmers may soon have an F150 pickup at their disposal that would make Q, Bond’s car creator, proud. Ford has been working with drone developer DJI and the two companies have launched […] Read more


Flying a UAV to capture farm data may mean applying for a Special Flight Operations Certificate from Transport Canada.

Considering trying out a UAV?

You could hire a custom operator to fly fields for you or take some training and fly your own

Should you add a UAV to your farm fleet or should you just hire someone with their own to do the flying for you? That’s a question farmers looking to collect the kind of data a UAV can capture will have to consider. At three to five dollars per acre to have a custom operator […] Read more

Seen here ready to launch, the AgEagle flying-wing UAV is designed to capture images of fields with an onboard camera. It can cover about 250 acres in 35 minutes.

In the field with an AgEagle UAV

Grainews participated in two exclusive UAV demo flights at the Ag in Motion farm show

Standing in a demonstration field at the Ag in Motion farm show near Saskatoon in July, Markus Weber, president of AgEagle Canada (AgEagle.ca), launched one of the company’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as the Grainews video team looked on. The battery powered, flying-wing model quietly took to the air and flew the preplanned route Weber […] Read more