Harnessing Drone Technology in Agriculture: The Role of Adjuvants

The rise of drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is transforming precision agriculture, with many small-scale, regional operators enabling adaptation in the United States. Despite the benefits of drones in crop management, a crucial element often overlooked is the use of adjuvants in drone tank mixes. These materials significantly enhance drone spraying operations, improving efficiency and effectiveness and increasing safety.

Although adjuvants are essential, their full potential in drone applications is still to be fully realized. The various spray technologies on drones, like the spray nozzles or rotary atomizers, may require different approaches to using adjuvants.

Some agricultural spray drones use atomizer technology for enhanced spray control.

Adjuvants in Drone Spraying: Enhancing Precision Agriculture

Incorporating adjuvants into drones tank mixes offers substantial performance, efficiency, and safety improvements for agricultural operators. Incorporating adjuvants into drone tank mixes ensures a more uniform and effective distribution of applied products, reducing drift and enhancing coverage. This leads to better results with fewer resources, optimizing time and inputs.

Adjuvants also play a crucial role in safety and environmental stewardship. They help to minimize off-target drift and ensure that treatments adhere more effectively to crops and weeds, reducing the risk of unintended ecological impact. Even without drone-specific regulations, using adjuvants aligns with best practices in aerial spraying, adapting traditional benefits to the unique requirements of UAV technology.

Agricultural drone spraying a field.

Integrating adjuvants into your drone operations will unlock a more efficient, safer, and more productive approach to modern farming.

Adjuvants for Drone Applications: A Comparative Perspective

The current market offers products designed for traditional and aerial applications in agricultural adjuvants. However, some adjuvants stand out due to their specific formulation to meet the needs of drone technology. These products focus on precise application requirements like better coverage, adherence, and reduced drift, which are crucial for drone spraying efficiency.

These adjuvants are effective and reliable in aerial applications and are likely to support the performance of drone applications in modern agriculture. They are field-tested to ensure optimal performance under various conditions, providing a dependable and efficient solution for crop management.

An applicator prepares to complete an agricultural pesticide application.

Although regulations have not caught up with recent developments of the boom in agricultural drone spraying, at Exacto, Inc., we are focusing on fine-tuning current and developing new adjuvants that support the various technologies like the spray nozzles or the rotary atomizers that are currently used on UAVs.

Optimizing Drone Spraying with a Comprehensive Adjuvant Line

An applicator fills a drone spray tank with pesticide and adjuvant tank mix.

The unique requirements of drone applications necessitate a range of specialized adjuvant products:

Drone Equipment Cleaners: Tailored for drones, these cleaners facilitate effective tank cleaning between applications and ensure safe handling by applicators. Removing pesticides from a previous tank mix ensures no carryover between applications to prevent harming crops, which is vital for in-season applications. Considering their proximity to application equipment, these cleaners are designed with operator safety in mind, which is essential for applicator safety when handling drones.
Defoamers: As drones have small tanks and low spray volumes, these defoamers prevent foam-related issues, allowing for efficient mixing and ensuring accurate applications.
Activator Adjuvants: This range of products should meet label requirements of active ingredients and includes options like nonionic surfactants (NIS) for enhanced spreading, as well as high surfactant crop oils (HSOC) and methylated seed oils (MSO) for better penetration. These activators can be included in multifunctional adjuvants that consist of other beneficial functionalities. Choosing high-quality products is essential to ensure only functional PFAs are added, not mostly water, which is often the main ingredient in many lower-cost adjuvants. Some aspects to consider are NPE-free adjuvant options, ensuring safety for late-season corn applications, or biobased adjuvants to increase the use of renewable agricultural resources and reduce adverse environmental and health impacts.
Drift Control Agents and Deposition Aids: These products are crucial for modern drone sprayers and future technologies, designed to address the increased drift risk in drone spraying due to factors like a higher distance above the crop and rotor downwash effects.

This comprehensive line of adjuvants is developed to cater to the specific demands of UAV applications, ensuring efficiency, safety, and effectiveness in every aspect of drone spraying.

Enhancing Drones Agricultural Spraying with Advanced Adjuvants

Integrating drones in agriculture is a game-changer for precision farming, particularly beneficial for small-scale operations. Central to optimizing drone effectiveness is the use of adjuvants in tank mixes. These adjuvants improve spray distribution, reduce drift, and enhance coverage, contributing significantly to efficiency and environmental safety. A comprehensive range of products, including equipment cleaners, defoamers, activator adjuvants, and drift control adjuvants, addresses the specific requirements of drone spraying technologies.

This highlight real showcases Exacto and partners conducting drone adjuvant research.

As drone use increases, finding the right chemistries is essential to ensuring technology performs to its highest potential. Continuous in-field research reveals the ideal adjuvants for optimum tank mixes.

Elevate Your Drones Spraying Practices with Advanced Adjuvants

From ensuring clean and safe equipment to enhancing the effectiveness of your spray applications, these types of adjuvants are essential tools for a successful future of drone applications. Invest in quality adjuvants to ensure optimal performance, safety, and environmental stewardship in your UAV spraying practices.

Want to Learn More?

By submitting your contact information, you agree to be added to our mailing list. Don’t worry, you can unsubscribe at any time. View our Privacy Notice.

Harnessing Drone Technology in Agriculture: The Role of Adjuvants