Safer Farms with Agricultural Drones

Agricultural Drones Represent the Next Frontier in Farm Safety

This week, as we observe National Farm Safety and Health Week (September 22-27), we are reminded of the sobering fact that agriculture remains one of our nation's most dangerous industries. This year's theme, "Safety First, Avoid the Worst!" highlights that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. One of the greatest benefits agricultural drones provide to American farmers is getting them off of dangerous terrain and away from direct exposure to pesticides. Those risks have been accepted as unavoidable parts of agriculture until the last few years. Now, agricultural drone technology offers us a way to get more farmers out of life-threatening situations while improving their operating efficiency. 

If the FAA adopts a workable agricultural BVLOS framework as part of their Part 108 Rulemaking which is currently in process, these improvements in operational safety can be capitalized on and drive more significant and meaningful change to make farming that much more safer and efficient across the U.S. 

Preventing Tractor Rollovers

Tractor rollovers are consistently one of the leading causes of death, and severe injury, on farms across the U.S. While Rollover Protection Structures (ROPS) are essential to saving lives in a roll-over, agricultural drones remove tractors from being in many high-risk situations in the first place.

Agricultural drones excel at most of the tasks which force farmers to operate heavy machinery on steep hillsides, near embankments, or on wet, unstable ground, and allow the operator to stand safely on level ground. This increases safety and improves efficiency, because the drone does not have to slow down to compensate for the uneven terrain.

A Healthier Workforce: Ending Pesticide Exposure

Traditional pesticide application methods often put workers in direct contact with pesticide drift, leading to short-term and long-term health risks. Agricultural drones allow applicators to stand hundreds of feet away while the aircraft precisely applies products. This technology creates a vital barrier, keeping farmers out of harm's way. This is especially critical in hilly areas, where workers apply pesticides via backpack sprayers because the terrain is too uneven for blast-sprayers.

A Call for Education and Advocacy

The benefits are clear, but technology alone isn't enough. We need leadership and education to make these safety tools accessible to every American farmer. It is critical that leading organizations like the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), the official host of Farm Safety Week, and its partners get behind the development of agricultural drones to make them more affordable and easier to use. 

Most importantly, we need a national push to support the research and development to make these platforms safer, more effective, and more affordable. In addition, it is critical to support farmer education so that they can not only learn about how these technologies can be used safely and effectively, but also learn about best-practices and emergent use-cases so that they can take maximum advantage of these technologies.

Other nations are quickly adopting this technology and realizing how impactful it can be, and American farmers should follow suit. While it may be unsurprising that agricultural power-houses such as China, Brazil, and India exceed America in agricultural drone density, we are also being outpaced by Thailand, Japan, Turkey, and South Korea.

When a farmer uses a drone for precision spraying, they aren't just protecting their own health; they are creating a more environmentally safe operation by reducing chemical runoff and improving their yields by applying exactly what the crop needs, where it needs it.

This Farm Safety Week, let's commit to a safer future. Let's equip our farmers with the tools and the knowledge they need to work safely, efficiently, and sustainably and support the tools and policies that will get us there faster. 

From B. Belton, et al. “Can the global drone revolution make agriculture more sustainable?” Science vol. 389, issue 6764, pg. 972-976 (2025).