Pioneering work by SEAD Artists could be about to unblock the bottlenecks impeding the use of drones in agriculture, allowing beyond visual line of sight flight, the aerial application of key crop protection products and seed sowing for reforestation projects.

SEAD Artists is a consortium of like-minded drone experts supporting agricultural innovation using new technology and drones. The current participants are Autospray Systems, Skypointe, the University of Liverpool and DronePrep, and they are open to new members. SEAD Artists has collaborated on several projects utilising drones in specific settings, including Paludiculture and forestry.

Their work is now set to overcome the regulatory hurdles that have hampered drone use and adoption in the industry.

SEAD Artists do not believe the regulation is necessarily the issue; it is the focus on building the evidence to demonstrate safe use. “It is the willpower to put your mind to it to make those applications, and that’s what we are spearheading,” says Andy Sproson, COO of Autospray Systems.

“We’re the only people who have started to find solutions that satisfy the regulator,”.

“It’s the same with agricultural drone spraying. Yes, you can’t apply a product unless the application method is on the label, but there are processes in place.”

Aleks Kowalski, CEO of Skypointe, believes there are three main areas beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations need to address. Put simply, these revolve around where the operator is, where everybody else is, and what the risk to people on the ground is.

“The only way people have been able to fly drones so far has been using visual line of sight (VLOS). Usually, this means you are restricted to flying the drone no more than a range of 500 metres from where you take off.

“This is very limiting if you want to fly over thousands of hectares.”

Now, BVLOS has become a reality. It involves categorising low altitude, below 15 metres in their case, as an atypical air environment with an improbable likelihood of a collision with a crewed aircraft. The CAA announced a policy concept for this late last year, says Aleks.

“We’ve taken this policy concept and made a safety argument to the regulator that the type of spraying Andy does fits within that airspace at low altitude,” he adds.

This means that, presently, Autospray Systems is the only operator that can fly BVLOS without any trials or restrictions on the type of activity. Aleks believes they have unlocked BVLOS and are the first to do so in the UK.

To go with their new BVLOS capability, Andy has been working towards regulatory approval for drone spraying of key plant protection products.

“We’ve had to create drift data to quantify how far it goes if you spray it with a drone. Our drift is down to 15 metres, which is equivalent to a horizontal boom sprayer.”

They already have trial permits for some products. Slug pellets were announced last year, which could be a game-changer for farmers struggling through a wet autumn.

“We also have a biological insecticide called Dipel, which we’ve used to treat box caterpillars and oak processionary moths in oak trees. Other products are coming down the line. We have 13-15 at the end of the application process with the HSE (Health and Safety Executive).”

Andy adds that this includes an application for glyphosate products, which would put drone spraying on many farmers’ radar. “We are hopeful that we will have our glyphosate active substance-based product approval very shortly.

“This season, our operators will be in the field applying these products on a trial basis, but with the benefit that we will be controlling the pest or weed while they gather data to support further commercial approvals.”

What could BVLOS and a glyphosate approval mean for farmers this season?

Ask any farmer tackling black grass on their farm, and they will say June is the month when the success or failure of their weed control strategy becomes apparent. For the worst fields, they must also decide whether to take it to harvest or spray it off and stop the seed return for future crops.

Many farmers will also spot spray patches of black grass in a field. With BVLOS and aerial application approval, this is where drones now offer a speedy and cost-effective solution.

“I was speaking to a farmer who spent nine hours driving 28 kilometres through their crops’ tramlines in their sprayer to treat under a hectare of blackgrass dotted through the wheat crop.

“We’d have done that in 20 minutes,” says Andy.

SEAD Artists are speaking at an Agri-TechE online event “Unlocking the potential of drones” on July 14th.