DRONE SPRAYER SHINES IN HIGH-VALUE HORT CROPS
Bouwman sets the speed at 15 m.p.h., slow enough to ensure he’s getting uniform coverage. He thinks that speed does a better job than the higher speed used by a full-size helicopter. Altitude is generally 10 to 12 feet. Although the sales information claims a 30-foot wide swath, his testing with water sensitive paper says 24 feet is more realistic. In perfect conditions he might bump that to 26 feet.
“Quality of the spray job is a bigger benefit than we expected. When we’re spraying fungicide on corn, for instance, we see droplets all the way down to the root ball.”