Hacker News

Flying on Green: Why Farmers Are Turning to Drones for Cover Crop Seeding

64 points by rmason ago | 32 comments

adrian_b |next [-]

The drones are DJI Agras, whose availability in USA in the future is uncertain, at least for any newer and improved models.

UltraSane |root |parent [-]

The next administration will probably undo that stupid rule.

05 |root |parent [-]

Biden signed FY25 NDAA into law which required an unspecified US agency to audit DJI, guaranteeing the subsequent addition to the FCC's covered list since no US agency in its right mind is going to go on record to vouch that a foreign company's products are safe to use - it's all downside for them with no upside whatsoever.

The next admin will unban DJI with the same near zero probability they're going to allow Chinese EV imports.

UltraSane |root |parent [-]

Auditing doesn't mean banning. That happened during the Trump administration probably because people making the decision were invested in US competitors to DJI.

solyin |root |parent [-]

Skydio.

sandworm101 |next |previous [-]

Of all the things that a farmer could spread on a field with a drone, seeds would not be my first guess. Seeding of many crops is called "drilling" because of the need to actually insert the seed into the soil... something a drone cannot do. This is why you rarely see crop dusting airplanes spreading seeds.

A drone would be perfect for spreading fertalizers and pesticides. 200lb isnt nearly as much as a proper cropduster but running a drone has to be far cheaper than hiring a cropduster. But a chemical-spraying quadcopter isnt exactly the poster child for new tech.

adrian_b |root |parent |next [-]

The article explains why for cover crops this method is suitable and preferable to traditional methods (e.g. it avoids the compaction of the soil).

giantg2 |root |parent [-]

I'd argue that broadcast is the real traditional method.

adrian_b |root |parent [-]

Broadcast minimizes soil compaction, but the article argues that using a drone can achieve a very uniform distribution of the seeds over area, which would be hard to achieve by broadcast.

ikidd |root |parent |next |previous [-]

Some crops seed very nicely by being broadcast, and most forages are seeded that way. Small seed crops like canola and grasses are perfect for broadcasting, and I've seen some excellent crops that were broadcast.

Fertilizer is a poor candidate for drones, because even an Agra 100 could barely lift an acre's worth of fertilizer, since you'll often seen upwards of 200lbs/ac applied each year.

quixoticelixer- |root |parent |next [-]

They are good for fertiliser when you have areas to small for aircraft or too difficult for a tractor, which is not often but common enough for them to be useful.

busssard |root |parent |previous [-]

whatabout automatic refueling?

Fertilizer and pesticides could be deployed depending on the need (plant-health monitoring from above) which reduces the need of blanketed deployment. its already the standard for some more expensive smart tractor attachents, but it comes naturally for a drone.

ikidd |root |parent [-]

I think that's way less simple than a ground boom with individual nozzles every 20" or so. Those could be precisely controlled for selective application, a drone is not selective. It's a spread pattern of 10-15m of one or two nozzles. It's the definition of a blanket deployment. Not to mention prop wash spreading it around.

I've used these things, they aren't subtle.

tialaramex |root |parent |next |previous [-]

As a layman: It cannot be the case that most plant seeds need to be drilled because so many of their natural distribution techniques wouldn't be effective.

sandworm101 |root |parent |next [-]

Need as in the farmer buying seed doesnt want to be feeding birds and mice. Drilling means a much greater number of seeds survive.

JoeAltmaier |root |parent |next |previous [-]

Well, corn requires drilling, and corn is king. A third of all planted ground.

defrost |root |parent |next [-]

And this isn't corn seed - it's seed cast into still growing (but nearly ready) corn to establish nitrogen fixing legumes / radishes to bind the ground prior to the corn harvest and get an early start on the rotation.

JoeAltmaier |root |parent [-]

Corn is planted to grow into the 'canopy' stage as quickly as possible. At that point it has all the sunlight - nothing can grow underneath it. This minimizes weedkiller needed and maximizes yield per acre.

So nothing in this scheme needs broadcasting between the corn.

defrost |root |parent [-]

You might want to take that point up with the two multi generational Nebraska corn, radish, and soybean farmers interviewed and quoted in the submitted article:

  The sweet spot for aerial seeding runs from late August through mid-October. By that point, the crop canopy begins to dry down and open up, allowing sunlight to reach the soil surface. Once harvest begins, Wright notes, the established cover crop is hardy enough to withstand combine traffic without interfering with harvesting equipment.
Clearly they've been doing this for some years, despite your sage wisdom.

9rx |root |parent |previous [-]

Technically corn is planted, requiring singulation for a productive stand. Drilling is defined by a continuous flow of seed.

coryrc |root |parent |previous [-]

Most farmed species cannot compete in a natural environment.

Wild corn was a very different plant.

colechristensen |root |parent |next |previous [-]

Many cover crops have very small seeds that need little to no planting depth, even optimally. Growing crops requires much higher success ratio for an individual seed compared to a cover crop. You don't need to care when its a cover crop.

Fertilizers can require hundreds of pounds of application per acre or have special application requirements that must be done from the ground (nitrogen/ammonia)

cogman10 |root |parent |next |previous [-]

> A drone would be perfect for spreading fertalizers and pesticides.

They tend to weigh too much and uneven spreading will burn/destroy crops.

> 200lb isnt nearly as much as a proper cropduster but running a drone has to be far cheaper than hiring a cropduster.

So many farms have gone to central pivots. Those that have don't (usually) need the drones for either fertilizers or pesticides, they can feed those directly through the pivot and get a nice even coating across the entire crop. I think that more than anything is what's killed off the crop duster industry. It used to be a lot more common to see in them in my youth. I don't think I've seen a crop duster in over 20 years now. I had family friends who flew them.

hugeBirb |root |parent [-]

Crop dusters and overland sprayers are an essential part of dry-land farming. Anything that's not a pivot really. You can't install pivots on every piece of land. There is a lot that goes into installing one and sometimes the pros do not outweigh the cons. They're prohibitively expensive for ALOT of people. They also cant account for irregular shaped fields. A ditch and some irrigation tubes go a long way for row crops.

quixoticelixer- |root |parent [-]

If there is a centre pivot then it's not dryland farming is it anyway

jonas21 |root |parent |next |previous [-]

This is for cover crops though.

hugeBirb |root |parent |next |previous [-]

I mean, they are also using them for spraying. In my very small hometown in Montana they're being used by the local ditchriders(exactly what it sounds like, they "patrol" the ditches and canals making sure they're in order and adjusting flow as needed) to seasonally spray the ditch banks, much more effective than a 4-wheeler and/or spraying by hand.

ianburrell |root |parent |previous [-]

It sounds like some cover crops are seeded before the main crop is harvested to give them more time to grow.

bluGill |root |parent [-]

That is the ideal case. The plants need some time to germinate and sprout. They don't need sunlight at all until they are above ground. Ideally you want something growing anytime it is above freezing, so you want to plant the next crop while the cover is still growing. Of course ideal is rarely possible.

pimlottc |next |previous [-]

Nice to see the word “broadcast” used in its original meaning!

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Rabbit504030201 |previous [-]

I hoped the word "drone" here meant small, autonomous airplanes, but no. DJI quadcopters. That what you get.

defrost |root |parent [-]

It can also mean autonomous winged platforms and autonomous wheeled platforms - all three forms (wheels, wings, blades) are used here in our wheat / grain belt.