It buzzes, it flies, and it spits out seeds - agricultural drones are starting to make their mark on Mid Canterbury.

The machines are a game changer for farms in tough spots who need to carry out pest control, seed sowing and spraying.

AgSmartUAV is a local business helping landowners learn about the machines, run by one man.

Vaughan Ward is the chief pilot and managing director - the company’s only employee - but said it’s easy to manage the work as a one-man-band.

“It’s all in house, I can manage it myself, and it’s all so very weather dependent.”

Ward’s drone flying business grew from a hobby.

“I dabbled with radio control aircraft, but wasn't very good at it.”

He started the company in 2019 as a side job, taking a “leap of faith” at a time where viable agricultural drones were still a new fangled thing.

He invested in his first spraying drone and would use his days off to take it out on farm and carry out spraying work.

“It got to the point where I was turning work away ‘cause I just couldn't fit it in, and picked up a couple of larger clients who needed the commitment.”

He left his main job in 2021 to work as an agricultural drone operator full time.

Most of his clients come through word of mouth and start business over a phone call.

“Someone might say, ‘look, I've got 20 hectares of winter crop that are getting hammered by butterflies, but it's too high to get a land-based vehicle in.”

He’ll go out and asses the site and check for flight restrictions - like road rules, there are airspace requirement that drones need to stay within.

Once the site’s cleared for use, he’ll create a digital boundary for the drone, fill the drone with pesticide, fertiliser or seeds, and send it on its way.

AgSmart has two sizes of machines - “One small one for little bits and pieces, like scattered gorse and broom.”

“The large craft, we can take the spraying tank out of it and put another unit in that’s able to spread grain or fertiliser.”

Agricultural drones have existed since the 1980’s, with the helicopter-like Yamaha R-50 debuting in 1987.

The technology has improved exponentially since then, particularly in the last decade with large manufacturers like Chinese Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) getting in on the action.

Ward said drones help increase crop yield by avoiding the land compaction and wheel tracks that land-based vehicles leave.

And while they can’t fly in the rain, their work isn’t stunted by mud or hilly terrain.

Ward reckons flying agricultural drones is a service land-based contractors will begin to offer in the next few years.

“[For] spraying contractors, I think at some point it's probably going to be a tool in the tool box.”

Learning how to operate drones, and the tedious and costly paperwork that come with it, are barriers for contractors at the moment.

“I [also] think everybody's waiting for the size of the machines to get bigger, to a point where they’re carrying a load that’s viable, that's not just needing to refill all the time.”

But for now, the one-man-band system works well for Ward.

by Anisha Satya