ADI’s Regulatory Objectives
Agricultural drones are heavily influenced by two agencies’ regulations and policies because they are operated by remote control (FCC) in federal airspace (FAA).
An effective and unified set of objectives are critical to ensure that both agencies understand what is needed to help propel our industry forwards.
Currently, agricultural drone regulations are caught in a negative cycle.
Burdensome and ineffective regulations have led to 65% of ag-drones to go unregistered.
As a result of this under-counting, regulators to deprioritize regulatory reforms for agricultural drones.
With your help, ADI can work with regulators to fix this problem.
This under-registration cycle has resulted in the current status quo:
There are almost exactly 1,500 part 137 waivers for agricultural drones currently granted as of January 1, 2025.*
*according to ADI’s FOIA request to the FAA
According to industry estimates, there are at least 10,000 agricultural drones in America that should be operating under a 137 waiver.
Assuming the average operator has 2 drones (weighted because solo-operators are most likely to not register), that would mean 70% of the agricultural drones on the market are not being operated by a part 137 holder, and as such are unregistered as well.
What is ADI doing to fix this problem?
One of the most critical things an advocacy group such as ADI can do is engage with regulators proactively and cooperatively to identify and solve compliance problems.
We are able to collaborate with regulators and our supporters in Congress to find ways to meaningfully reform the process without placing an undue burden on them, while incentivizing improved compliance.
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ADI is working with regulators to decrease the wait-time for part 137 waivers by integrating those applications into the part 107 process, retaining the additional information provided, but shifting to presumptive authorization.
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Similar to our approach with the 137 waivers, we advocate to simplify the registration process by integrating it with the FAA DroneZone, maintaining the same amount of information submitted, but, by digitizing the process, make the reviews automated, similar to the process required by Executive Order 14307.
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ADI is working with Congress to create various programs to assist in the purchase of agricultural drones. Part of that process would be a no-questions-asked, expedited licensing and registration process for those taking part in the program.
Regulations Directly Control Incentives, not Behavior - Why Presumptive Authorization is so Critical
Farmers and ag-drone operators fundamentally want to be safe and compliant. A recurring refrain we hear is some version of “I want to be compliant but I can’t afford to wait a year to start making money back on a $60,000.00+ investment.”
By facilitating the licensing and registration process through shifting to presumptive authorizations, the process is streamlined for operators and farmers, increasing their engagement. While regulators may prefer authorization prior to operation, the real-world consequence of this approach in the ag-drone sector is wide-spread non-compliance.
Shifting to this presumptive authorization approach, integrated into the Part 107 & DroneZone systems, would get the FAA the maximum amount of data in a digitized format, allowing for faster processing. Digitization also facilitates better submission validation, to ensure there are less submissions that are improperly filled out or incomplete, and allow the bad-actors to be identified faster.
ADI believes that it is far better for the FAA to have more information on more operators, to understand what they need to properly regulate the industry, than continue losing visibility into the scope of the problem and functionally reward non-compliant operators.
QfJ - Could put more details here actually enumerating changes to specific parts and things here? seems better to stay non-committal on the specifics?
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Access detailed guides on federal and state regulations affecting agricultural drone operations.
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Utilize our checklists to ensure all regulatory requirements are met before flight operations.
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Find links to important regulatory bodies and resources for further information and assistance.