To date, only pesticides registered for use with drones — often called remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) — can legally be applied by drones. Almost none are registered for drone application.

WHY IT MATTERS: The proposed regulations would make many existing pesticides available for application by drone. To date, almost no products have been made available for legal application by drone — though anecdotal evidence suggests drone application is happening on the down low.

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) proposes to allow currently registered products, where the label permits aerial application — that is, by fixed wing or rotary aircraft — to be applied by drone.

Applicators would need to comply with all the label directions for aerial application, including spray volume, application rate, droplet size, treatment interval and spray buffer zones.

When used according to aerial application instructions, the PMRA said, drone application is not expected to impact the value of the pesticide being applied.

Based on data from global studies, spray drift with drone application is similar to ground application. Spray buffer zones established for conventionally-piloted rotary wing aircraft will be adequate. The PMRA also said pesticide residues on food crops are not higher than with conventional applications.

The PMRA said there isn’t enough data for a full risk assessment on safety risks of operators exposure to pesticides; however, it says available evidence suggests it’s “unlikely to be higher than with conventional equipment” — particularly because tasks such as mixing, loading and application must be done by different people, just as with other aerial spraying.

Consultations opened on Feb. 23 and close March 25.

Drone pilots would still require the relevant licenses from Transport Canada.

PMRA passes five-year mark on regulation studies

The PMRA began studying drone regulations in 2019. In September, members of the federal standing committee on agriculture asked the PMRA’s senior director general Frédéric Bissonette what was taking so long.

Bissonette cited scientific issues — for example, that a drone did not behave the same as an airplane — and pledged to have “something in place for next year.”

“Canada seems to be kind of falling behind other jurisdictions in terms of allowing this type of use,” CropLife Canada CEO Pierre Petelle told Glacier FarmMedia in late 2025.

“With these products being used in many other western-type jurisdictions … there should be ways of coming to conclusions much quicker than we have,” he added.

Crop protection companies, meanwhile, have been conducting studies to collect drone-specific data for their products.

Anecdotal evidence suggested farmers were using already drones to apply pesticides on the down low.

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While the use of spray drones for chemical application is still illegal in Canada, research on how to use them efficiently and effectively is ongoing.

Much of Wolf’s research focuses on how to properly operate a drone for best spray application. He stressed the importance of flight height and speed because they effect the downwash and droplet distribution.

Ideal height of flight is about three metres from the ground, while ideal speed will vary depending on the amount of product deposit a producer wants, just like with a typical boom sprayer.

Wolf and his team have tested anywhere from four to 18 m.p.h. during their research.

However, because drones are slower than other aircraft and create their lift by pushing air downwards, there is a more significant downwash with drones than with piloted aircraft.

“On a piloted aircraft, we don’t have a lot of downwash — it generates a lot of downwash, but it’s diluted by forward travel speed,” he said.

A strong downwash is needed because it assists in the product effectively making it’s way through the canopy of plants to the ground. However, this downwash is also highly susceptible to drift, making it hard to create tight borders.

“In the middle of the drone pass, there’ll be heavy deposition, and on the edges it’ll be lighter and lighter and lighter,” Wolf told the crowd.

“You have to decide, where is it too light? Where do I have to start overlapping?”

According to Wolf, swath patterns and determining those overlaps are the biggest challenge with drones.

“We have to measure them, and they’re not as uniform as we’d like,” he said.

“So, there may be design features, faster flying speeds, getting under the downwash (to consider). We have a lot of work to do here to make sure that we actually don’t create problems.”

The post Crop Production Show 2025: Spray drone research continues appeared first on Country Guide.

Ross Breckels, a senior scientific evaluator with Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), said the process of getting common pesticides “on-label” for use by drone is coming along faster than he expected a year ago.

Four requirements must be satisfied before the agency makes an on-label decision for a pesticide and, in this case, its method of application. Those include drift risk, efficacy, maximum residue limits and impacts of operator and bystander exposure. It’s up to chemical companies to submit pesticides for on-label drone use and make a case for their safety, Canadian authorities have said.

Some — including Breckels — previously suggested there hasn’t been a lot of activity in that domain.

He’s more optimistic today, thanks to research being conducted around the world.

Perhaps the biggest example of that work is the Unmanned Aerial Pesticide Application System Task Force. That’s a group of eight agricultural chemical companies generating drone-spraying data on off-site movement, operator/handler exposure and human dietary exposure for regulatory authorities around the world. The task force has an annual multimillion-dollar budget.

Breckels takes the number of zeros in that figure as a sign that major chemical companies are taking the file seriously.

“It’s not an insignificant amount of money that they’re putting into this. So, obviously there is a lot of interest from chemical registrants,” he said.

Companies involved in that initiative include BASF, Bayer CropScience, Corteva Agriscience, FMC, Gowan, NuFarm, Syngenta and Valent.

Results coming out of the task force might mean good news for farmers hoping to use drones for pesticide application, said Breckels.

“They have been conducting worldwide drift trials in 2023 and some are still ongoing in 2024. They are going to submit their data to the PMRA sometime this fall as well.”

Breckels also pointed to a presentation at the American Chemical Society conference in August, which hinted at “encouraging” preliminary results from residue trials.

“They’re hopefully going to provide the PMRA with the data from those results in the coming months.”

To date, only four chemical products have received PMRA approval for drone application — none directly related to agriculture. Garlon XRT herbicide was approved for industrial use this summer, while the others are larvicides for mosquito control.

This effectively makes the spraying of any ag pesticide by drone illegal, with fines up to $10,000.

Drones have their share of advocates and skeptics. In an interview earlier this year, spray expert Tom Wolf cautioned that their smaller tanks and lower water volumes translate to very fine spray droplets, which have more risk of going off-target.

Markus Weber — a central Alberta drone salesperson and instructor — does not agree with that assessment. He cited leading spray drone manufacturers such as DJI, XAG and Hylio that are already manufacturing drones capable of adjusting droplet size.

“A drone operator is able to change droplet size from as low as 50 or 100 microns — extremely drift-prone droplets but in some cases necessary, say, for an orchard where you’re trying to penetrate a canopy for insect control. In those cases, some really fine droplets are called for.

“And then, in situations where you have higher winds and you need to control drift in more of a typical Western Canada field scenario, then the larger droplet size makes sense, and that one tool lets you do all of that.”

Weber says the first ag products approved for drones will likely be fungicides and chemicals for various niche uses.

“That’s been proven true with Garlon XRT,” he said.

How popular spray drones will be once common ag pesticides are registered is another matter, said Breckels, adding they won’t likely replace ground sprayers or manned aircraft as application methods.

“They’ll work in conjunction with them, so the pesticide companies would still get their revenue from field sprayers and air applicators.”

– This article was originally published at the Western Producer.

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The House Republicans, including Representatives Elise Stefanik, Ashley Hinson and John Moolenaar, who chairs a select committee on China, asked the U.S. Agriculture Department and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in letters seen by Reuters to detail the administration’s efforts to address risks posed by aerosol dispensing drones and brief Congress by Sept. 30 and cited the large number of drones produced by Chinese-drone manufacturer DJI.

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At issue is on-farm use of drones for the application of pesticides. Drones with the capability to apply pesticides are now being actively marketed to farmers. Innovative producers are excited. They believe drone application is a great new technology that could add value to their businesses. However, they are frustrated that regulations have not kept up to the technology and that pesticide manufacturers are hesitant to endorse the use of their products via drones. These farmers also worry about resistance from environmentalists and the public.

This issue became clear to me this past fall at the Agri-Trade show in Red Deer, Alberta. I spoke with three of the at least four exhibitors there marketing drones capable of applying pesticides. All made compelling cases why farmers should consider using a drone instead of their current options, i.e. a ground sprayer or hiring a licensed aerial applicator.

Each also told me they knew of farmers already using drones to apply fungicides and herbicides to cropland and pastures. But what the three vendors did not mention, until I questioned them, was the regulatory restrictions on using their drones for pesticide applications. This is when the conversations really became interesting.

But before I expand on that, this trade show was not the only place where farmer interest in drones is being expressed. Social media has reports of Canadian farmers already using drones. For example, a retailer of agricultural drones recently posted the following on Facebook: “… We also recognize that these won’t replace ground rigs completely yet. However, many of our customers are using these (drones) a couple of ways: smaller fields for fungicide application, ditch lines, headlands on calm days while the high clearance chews up the big acres.”

Then the post went on to add, “That said, we do have customers that opt for these overused pull types for their main sprayer. We have guys that have done 4,500+ acres in the past year with just one. With the bonus being they don’t leave tracks. But most importantly, they’re around $40,000, compared to $1,000,000 for a new high-clearance sprayer.”

On X (formally Twitter) there have also been posts by farmers about using drones for pesticide application. One poster recently wrote: “How far away until we start seeing high-clearance sprayers switched out for drones on farms in Western Canada,” to which one farmer replied: “I think it’s viable now. Just waiting for the rules to catch up,” and another: “We are being held back by gov’t regs more than tech… I expect to see them flying in my area in the next two to five years.”

Which brings me back to the real issue. Drones for use in the application of pesticides are being actively marketed to farmers eager to purchase and adopt this technology despite the fact there are only three pesticides currently registered for application by drones. All three are biological insecticides for mosquito control and are likely not the products being used by farmers who are already using drones.

Many farmers I spoke with thought that any pesticides labelled for aerial application can be used in a drone. Unfortunately, this is false but there is little incentive for salespeople to correct this misconception. In my experience, instead, it’s like there’s a buyer beware, “don’t tell if they don’t ask” sales tactic in use by drone vendors.

Worse yet, every player in this confusing situation seems to be pointing the finger at someone else for the label delays. It is a real catch-22.

So, who actually is responsible for reviewing, updating, harmonizing, and/or making regulatory changes that will enable farmers to operate drones? Here is what some invested parties have to say:

Farmers

First and foremost, a growing number of farmers are interested in using drones for pesticide application. Some already own drones and use them for field mapping, field scouting and personal fun. It’s natural to seek other applications for this technology on the farm.

Other farmers are intrigued by lower application costs. When a new drone equipped for pesticide application is four per cent of the price of a new high-clearance sprayer, farmers get interested fast.

For smaller-acreage farmers who cannot see ever being able to justify the cost of a high-clearance sprayer, a single drone might fulfill their needs.

Other attractions include eliminating wheel tracks and compaction and being able to navigate in the corners and small areas a lot more easily.

And then there’s maintenance. There’s a whole lot more that can go wrong on a million-dollar sprayer than on a drone. And, likely, the farmer can repair or replace faulty parts on a drone while the ground rig sits idle with a large tank full of product while the farmer waits for an expensive service call.

Some farmers aren’t prepared to wait for those changes and are using drones already.

Drone vendors

Drone vendors blame both government and industry for holding up official approvals for drone spraying and they seem to have no qualms about promoting the spray capability of their drones in order to build up farm pressure.

Even getting a fraction of farmers to buy spray-equipped drones would mean big new sales.

Drone suppliers focus on the much lower capital cost and the ability of a single drone to spray 25 to 40 acres an hour but there are other advantages as well. Less water is needed, the turnaround time for filling is quick, and there’s a safety benefit in having a maximum of 30 or 40 litres of product on board compared to a high clearance load of 800 to 1,600 gallons.

Besides, by changing the tank a drone can go from applying liquid pesticides to dry fertility products in minutes.

PMRA

Getting government regulatory approval for drone pesticide application is complex. All levels of government and a number of regulatory agencies evaluate, license, monitor, and ultimately enforce the Pest Control Act and its regulations.

Before any pesticide can be applied in Canada it must be approved by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), a division of Health Canada. According to a PMRA spokesperson “Health Canada’s primary objective in regulating pesticides is to help protect the health of Canadians and the environment. All pesticides must undergo a rigorous science-based review before being approved for sale in Canada. Depending on the type of active ingredient and the data on file, pesticides may require drone-specific data; there are several value, health (both occupational and dietary exposure), and environmental data requirements that need to be met before drones can be added to the respective product labels.”

“Pesticide application by drone is only permitted if stated on the registered pest control product label. The registered product will state ‘Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems‘ and/or ‘RPAS’ on its label if permitted.”

At this time there are only three pesticides in Canada that are labeled as such and can be legally applied by a drone. They are the mosquito larvicide products mentioned above, which received federal approval for drone application in 2022 but are still held back by provincial restrictions.

These are all restricted class microbial products for use in mosquito control, not the pesticides farmers are likely to be applying.

The biggest roadblock is not the technology, but the lack of pesticides labeled for RPAS application. And because of the testing protocol required for this label amendment, changes to labels will not happen overnight, or even in the next year for most pesticides.

Data needs to be generated, packaged and sent to PMRA, after which PMRA typically needs one to two years to review – and sometimes more.

And until then, there are penalties for spraying products by drone that aren’t labeled for that use.

When I asked PMRA, I was told it would be a violation of the Pest Control Products Act. “Depending on the specific non-compliance situation,” the spokesperson said, “Health Canada has at its disposal a suite of enforcement tools.” Those include product seizures, fines and more.

PMRA is aware of farmer interest in drones and is already working with a number of national and international organizations studying pesticide applications with drones including OECD Drone/UASS Subgroup, the North American Remotely Piloted Aerial Application Systems (RPAAS) Working Group, the Unmanned Aerial Pesticide Application Systems Task Force (UAPASTF) spray drift trials, and the Agriculture and AgriFood Canada (AAFC) crop residue trials working group.

PMRA also points out they have a program to issue research authorizations, which could include research with drones for specific pest control products.

PMRA stresses too that they are not involved in regulating the marketing or sales of drones and that it is up to pesticide manufacturers to initiate pesticide label amendments for drone application.

Pesticide manufacturers

CropLife Canada represents Canadian manufacturers, developers and distributors of pest control products. Its president and CEO Pierre Petelle says: “Our members are actively working with PMRA on the use of drones for applying pesticides. There is definitely a place for this technology.”

Petelle says CropLife is working with PMRA to determine what data is needed to be collected to evaluate drone application of pesticides, but until anyone knows how much drone testing (such as spray pattern, drift and droplet size) will be needed, it isn’t possible to even put an estimate on when the first pesticides may be labelled for drone application.

Nor could he provide a cost estimate, although he says a rough ballpark estimate would about $1 million to get a ground-sprayer product approved for aerial application, and it would require data from a couple of growing seasons.

Petelle adds though that the U.S. is also working toward utilizing drones for pesticide application and CropLife Canada is working with regulatory agencies there to try to share knowledge and harmonize regulations.

Petelle notes PMRA has a lot on its plate besides drones but feels it needs to prioritize drone evaluation since drones are already in commercial use applying agriculture pesticides in countries including China, Australia and Argentina. He reports watching a video of a swarm of drones, numbering 30 wide, spraying a commercial field crop.

Aerial applicators

Shara Tardif, executive director of the Canadian Association of Aerial Applicators, feels farm show sales promoting drones for pesticide application border on false advertising. Her organization has raised its concerns with companies marketing drones. She feels farmers need to be informed that there are no herbicides or fungicides currently labelled for drone application.

She feels farmers should also be warned if they do apply a pesticide off label, they can face fines of thousands of dollars.

That said, Tardif says: “drones are coming. They are already being used in the U.S. where regulations are different.”

Tardif added her organization is not opposed to farmers using drones provided the user has the relevant pesticide applicator licensing and proper Transport Canada licensing to fly the drone, and also providing they follow the label. In fact, she feels some licensed aerial applicators may even invest in drones to use for spot spraying or in areas where because of field size, powerlines or other obstacles, fixed wing aircraft are not suitable.

Transport Canada

Transport Canada is responsible for all types of aircraft, including drones with specific criteria that would have an impact on a farmer wanting to use a drone to apply pesticides. When asked about using drones for pesticide application, a Transport Canada spokesperson stated: “All drone pilots operating in Canada must follow the rules set out in Part IX of the Canadian Aviation Regulations and are strongly encouraged to consult Transport Canada’s drone safety resources to ensure their operations are safe and legal. Under Part IX, all drones weighing 250 g to 25 kg must be registered and pilots must obtain a certificate for basic or advanced operations.

Pilots who wish to fly their drone outside of the rules of Part IX for a specific purpose must apply for a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) with permission to operate a drone for specific purposes under special conditions.

A SFOC is also currently required for operating a drone out of the line of sight, for drones weighing over 25 kg, and for drones carrying dangerous or hazardous payloads, which pesticides are likely to be considered. It can take up to a month or more to submit and receive a SFOC, which could have a severe impact on pesticide spray timing.

Additionally, federal, provincial, or territorial rules may apply to the dispersal of pesticides from drones. More details are available by Googling “Information Note Regarding the Use of Drones when Applying Pesticides.”

Fines for breaking Transport Canada RPAS regulations range up to $25,000.

Equipment manufacturers

The companies that manufacture ground and high-clearance sprayers also have an interest in the viability of drones. Adoption of this technology by farmers could have an impact on their business. However, when questioned as to what they feel the impact might be if drones are approved for pesticide application, all the major equipment companies declined to comment for this article.

The public

The greatest unknown in the issue of pesticide application by drones may be how receptive the public will be to drones applying pesticides.

The bottom line

If you are a farmer considering the purchase of a drone for applying pesticides on your fields… Buyer Beware! Even though you can legally purchase a drone capable of applying pesticide, there are no labelled agriculture pesticides a drone can legally apply in Canada, even on your own property.

This is unlikely to change soon. Off-label drone application by farmers will not speed up the licensing process and it may lead to the seizure of the drone and hefty fines. Worse yet, an accident with an illegal, pesticide-carrying drone could set back the approval process.

On the other hand, farmers should be lobbying government and especially the manufacturers of pesticides, in an effort to make the necessary research, testing and evaluation a priority so agricultural pesticide labels can be amended for drone application. Farmers interested in drone pesticide application need to express that interest to government and industry.

– This article was originally published in the January 2024 issue of Country Guide.

The post Summer Series: Drone spraying appeared first on Country Guide.

Smaller drones designed for surveying, and crop/livestock monitoring are already a tool in many farmers’ toolboxes, but the larger spray drones are also becoming more practical in a Prairie context.

“With the spraying we’re doing on canola and other crops, we’re losing too much money on tracks, and it’s getting costly for airplanes and helicopters,” said Dwayne Bacon, a farmer from Kinistino, Sask. attending the event.

“This will be a new thing for farmers to get into,” he added.

The spray drones on display had the capacity to cover 40 to 50 acres per hour. However, while the technology is there, regulatory approval for the applications of most interest to farmers is lacking.

“The regulations are running behind the technology… which puts farmers in a tough position,” said David Koop, chief operating officer of Green Aero Tech.

Under the current Canadian regulations, spray drones are legally allowed to do such things as applying fertilizer and spreading seed, but no pesticides have regulatory approval from Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).

“It’s not allowed, but is it being done? Absolutely. And is it the primary interest? Absolutely,” said Markus Weber, president of Landview Drones. He expected the vast majority of spraying drones were being used for applying pest control products, desiccants and herbicides. “I realize that’s not currently considered legal by PMRA, but that is what most of the people buying spraying drones are doing.”

“There are definitely people being told that it is legal to apply on their own farm by vendors that are eager to sell these drones. That is not the case, the PMRA considers it equally illegal if you’re spraying on your own farm or spraying on someone else’s farm,” said Weber.

“There are people going in with their eyes closed, but there are also people going in with their eyes wide open and they don’t have another option,” said Weber, noting that small farmers often have no other choice for applying fungicide in-crop without a high clearance sprayer.

“It will be a year full of drama, and I’m looking forward to that drama because I think that’s what it will take in this business to get things to change,” said Weber.

“Many farmers don’t realize that spraying off label with a drone is considered illegal by PMRA, and I hope those aren’t the people that are prosecuted,” said Weber, noting he expected to see some enforcement in 2024 with heavy fines a possibility.

While approval for agricultural chemicals could be years away, there was a glimmer of hope when the PMRA approved the Garlon XRT brush-control herbicide for drone usage in just the past week.

“We look forward to when we’ve gone through the process and are able to do everything,” said Koop, adding “farming’s tough up here, and guys need every single edge they can get.”

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The Stratus AirSprayer, a new drone tool unveiled by Saskatchewan-based Precision AI in July, is unlike anything she’s seen so far.

“I think they’ve got something really special,” says Meisser, who was invited to see the AirSprayer in action during field testing in New Mexico in May.

“There are a lot of things that make the Stratus AirSprayer unique,” she adds. “I think it will change how the farming community starts to think about managing crops. It’s going to shift some mindsets.”

The Stratus AirSprayer is different than the quadcopters and fixed-wing UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) typically associated with ag drones. Essentially, it’s a powered paraglider — one that can carry heavier loads and stay aloft much longer than conventional drones.

Daniel McCann, founder and CEO of Precision AI, says the advanced, autonomous aerial sprayer was designed to increase efficiency and maximize field time in the kind of large-acre farms found in Western Canada.

“Spray drones are great if you have 40 acres of onions or something like that,” says McCann. “But if you’ve got 10,000 acres of canola, good luck getting a small drone sprayer to cover that.”

The body of the Stratus AirSprayer is 3.25 metres (10 feet, eight inches) long, 2.1 metres (six feet, nine inches) wide and 2.25 metres (seven feet, five inches) high. It weighs 700 lbs. (318 kg) empty and can carry a payload of up to 833 lbs. (378 kg).

The machine has a three-blade propeller at the back powered by a Rotax 100-horsepower gasoline engine, and it relies on a 541-square-foot (50.3-metre) parachute or “soft wing” to stay aloft.

McCann acknowledges the Precision AI team was a bit worried at first about how the UAV’s parachute would go over, given that it’s so different.

But he says that really hasn’t been a concern, once farmers are shown how the Stratus AirSprayer works, and they can see how handling the parachute isn’t any harder than folding and unfolding a spray boom.

The flight speed of the AirSprayer is just under 40 m.p.h. (61 km/h) and it is able to take off from a farmer’s field as long as there is 350 to 500 feet (107 to 152 metres) of runway room available. When the job’s done, the hardware can be loaded onto a flatbed truck or a 12-foot trailer, and the canopy folded and packed up into an easy-to-carry travel bag.

The Stratus AirSprayer can carry 100 U.S. gallons (378 litres) of herbicide, fungicide or insecticide solutions, which according to Precision AI is almost 20 times more than smaller ag drones. A bigger payload means more time in the air and more acres covered in a day.

The gas-powered AirSprayer can fly up to five hours before refueling, which McCann maintains is an obvious advantage over electric drones. “Your typical spray drones, even the big ones, typically max out at about 10 minutes of airtime, then you’ve got to swap batteries and refill it,” he says.

All this can mean substantial savings for farmers. Precision AI maintains it costs less than $3 per acre to operate the Stratus AirSprayer, a fraction of the cost of traditional drone technology which it says ranges from $6 to $13 per acre.

The automated Stratus AirSprayer can do precise GPS-guided broadcast sprays in two interchangeable swath widths, one 18 feet (5.5-metre) wide and the other 30 feet (nine-metres) wide.

A Generation Two version of the AirSprayer, slated to be released soon after the Generation One model, will feature green-on-green spray capability, developed by Precision AI with the use of artificial intelligence and advanced computer vision.

McCann says even with its high-tech capabilities, the Stratus AirSprayer isn’t difficult to operate and maintain, adding to its appeal to farmers. “Except for the onboard AI system, everything can be fixed fairly easily.”

While the Stratus AirSprayer is designed to allow farmers to do large-scale aerial applications on their own, it isn’t meant to compete directly with crop dusters and other aerial spraying businesses. Instead, Precision AI views them as potential partners as the UAV is unrolled in the Canadian market.

That likely won’t happen right away, as the Canadian government hasn’t yet approved using drones in aerial applications of crop protectant products. Precision AI is on a committee to advise Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) on the necessary changes required to allow spraying from UAVs.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got the technology that can be used as an automated aerial sprayer. It’s built out, and we just need to wait for the regulatory environment to catch up,” says McCann.

Precision AI hopes the PMRA will follow the lead of U.S. regulators and release a decision soon approving the use of drones for ag chemical applications. In the meantime, Precision AI plans to continue testing in the U.S. as well as on farms in Western Canada as it prepares for a limited release of the Stratus AirSprayer next year.

Meisser views the AirSprayer as a good value proposition, both in terms of productivity and return on investment. She also sees it as a very practical solution for farmers looking to get the most out of their crops.

“The Precision AI team is really connected to the farming community and are trying to build solutions for farmers with farmers. I think that they’re solving problems that matter,” she says.

“I think they just got down to brass tacks to determine what does this (machine) really need to do.”

In Meisser’s eyes, it won’t take long for the Stratus AirSprayer to gain traction among farmers once it catches on with leading-edge ag adopters and influencers willing to give the technology a try.

“You just need some strong ambassadors to showcase the technology,” she says. “Farmers are the most innovative people I know. They solve problems on a daily basis, and it doesn’t take any of them too long to identify where they see value. I think they will embrace it.”

The post Paraglider powers a new kind of sprayer appeared first on Country Guide.

Canada’s Pest Management Review Agency approved Garlon XRT herbicide, the first industrial vegetation product with drone application on the label.

“We are the first company to have a pesticide registered with PMRA for drone application,” said Mark Versluys, specialties business leader for Corteva Agriscience in Calgary.

“There is no other pesticide in Canada that has drone application on the label,” he said.

Versluys said the data collection and processing of the information required for approval took many months before the company received approval from PMRA.

Now, the herbicide can be sprayed by drone under utility right-of-ways, transmission lines, oil and gas leases and on steep mountainous terrain, anywhere Garlon was already registered for use in industrial areas. The approval does not extend to drone spraying for agricultural use.

Versluys said Corteva will continue to collect data and work with PMRA to have other pesticides registered for application by drone in the future.

“This isn’t just a one and done. This is the first step in a very exciting journey,” he said.

“I think the future looks very bright.”

Markus Weber, president of Landview Drones, said while the door is open a crack, PMRA needs to do more to add drone application registration for agricultural use to existing labels. Approving one herbicide at a time will take five to 10 years before there is a large selection of chemistry available for farmers.

Weber said ideally, he would hope PMRA would approve any chemical for drones that is now approved for aircraft.

“To me that is ultimately the way that we need to do this. It can’t just be label by label,” he said at the Agriculture in Motion farm show held northwest of Saskatoon.

In the first hour of the show, more than 120 farmers showed up for a drone demonstration.

“It is incredible. Farmers see this as a tool primarily for three things: brush control, pasture fungicide application and desiccant application.”

Pest control products can’t legally be sprayed by drone, but farmers see the potential, he said.

“Now that drones can fly large acreages and spraying can be done quickly and reliably, they see the potential, but they just can’t because the label doesn’t allow them to.”

The post Herbicide approved for industrial use by drone  appeared first on Country Guide.

The two institutions have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which entails both schools working together for five years on various programs, notably Olds College’s Smart Farm operation.

The partnership comes as a result of an 800-acre donation west of Craik, Sask., about 85 km north of Moose Jaw, from Margery Steckler and late husband George Steckler to Olds College. It’s the largest such donation the institution has ever received.

The aim of the Smart Farm with the new partnership is to train students and give them opportunities in the technologically advancing agriculture sector, such as with drones and autonomous farming equipment.

“I mean, that’s where farming is going,” Saskatchewan Polytechnic CEO Dr. Larry Rosia said at the two schools’ announcement on Monday last week at that school’s ag equipment technician shop in Saskatoon.

“That’s another example of what we could bring to the partnership as we do a lot of drone training. We have a fleet of drones, and our drones are collecting data. We could share that data with Olds College.”

Smart Farm has over 100 different partners that range from a variety of agriculture companies. Olds College president Stuart Cullum said he believes this will be another valuable asset for students, besides getting to work with another school — namely, to learn how to work with industry, as they will be converging with them in the program.

“There’s a lot of complementary programming. This programming that we don’t have at Olds because we’re very industry-focused on agriculture,” said Cullum. “There’s some things that we do in a real deep way that we can offer to Saskatchewan Polytechnic.”

Rosia noted there’s also the possibility of students and instructors being able to crossover between the two institutions.

“It’s too early to say, but the sky’s the limit as to the opportunity for student exchanges and instructor exchanges,” said Rosia.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic academic chair Deanna Herman sees the partnership as a great opportunity because it upgrades the students from a small-scale operation to a much larger one, giving them the ability to train on tasks they couldn’t before, such as irrigation.

“Our students will have hands-on training and setting up irrigation systems and timing and all those kinds of things.”

Plans are still in the beginning stages for the two institutions, but their focus is to now work together and not compete.

“The past was all about competing, the future is all about partnering and collaborating,” Rosia said.

The MOU will be governed by a joint committee of representatives from both institutions.

— Liam O’Connor reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Saskatoon.

Olds College president Stuart Cullum (l) and Saskatchewan Polytechnic president Dr. Larry Rosia (r) shake hands after signing the MOU. (Liam O’Connor photo)

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Not-for-profit organization Palette Skills has launched a new eight-week online program for Saskatchewan residents focused on automation and digitization in agricultural production and processing. The enrolment deadline for the new program was May 22.

Palette’s automation and digital agriculture specialist program, running June 6 to July 29, is billed as allowing its candidates to specialize in “identifying, managing, and implementing technologies to solve challenges and improve efficiencies across the agri-food value chain.”

More specifically, it focuses on “emerging technologies” in the agrifood sector such as GIS (geographic information systems), IoT (the Internet of Things), unmanned aerial vehicles, artificial intelligence, robotics, sensors and big data.

Workers who are “upskilled” through the program “can expect to develop careers in technology and business, farm robotics, agriculture automation, precision agriculture and production management,” the University of Saskatchewan, which supported the program’s design, said in a recent release.

The program is looking to recruit participants from Indigenous communities, newcomers to Canada, recent graduates and “experienced professionals looking to transition into the growing and exciting agri-food sector,” the U of S said.

“Today’s employees often need to understand how data and digital tools are being incorporated into everything from on-farm agriculture to food manufacturing,” said Bill Greuel, CEO of Protein Industries Canada, the federally-backed plant protein supercluster billed as a co-investor in the program.

“By having increased access to the right skills and talent, trailblazing companies across the country can increase their workforce, expanding their production and, as a result, growing Canada’s plant-based food and ingredient ecosystem.”

More information about the program and its format is available on the Palette Skills website.

CORRECTION, May 24, 2022: An earlier version of this article incorrectly characterized the automation and digital agriculture specialist program as a University of Saskatchewan program. We regret the error.

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