If you’ve had a go with a small consumer-type drone, it’s easy to understand why enthusiasts like Bracknell-based Steve Frost get hooked.

They are relatively cheap, can capture great visuals and are fun to fly but, when it comes to more industrious applications, they just don’t cut the mustard.

See also: Contractor transforms Hilux trucks into lightweight sprayers 

That means investing in bulkier, pro-spec models, two of which are now part of Steve’s contracting fleet.

These allow him to offer a complete aerial mapping and application service to farmers through his contracting business, SAS Land Services.

Steve Frost © Adam Clarke

Diversified contracting

While the Jersey milkers are long gone from the family’s dairy farm in Winkfield Row on the outskirts of Bracknell, the contracting arm of the business – founded in 2001 – is still going strong, having gradually altered its offering to suit changing local demand.

Originally, the firm’s primary workload was maize harvesting and hauling, but as the number of livestock farms in the area dwindled, focus switched to equestrian care and vegetation management.

Although this keeps the SAS Land Services team busy, Steve was itching to get back involved with the farming sector, and what was his hobby – flying drones – has quickly evolved into a revenue stream.

The market for agricultural drones is estimated to be worth tens of millions of pounds in the UK and significant growth is expected as farmers look to improve crop monitoring, drive input efficiencies, and make better use of artificial intelligence and data analytics.

Having spotted this business potential, he started offering aerial services to farms using his DJI Mavic 3 – the Chinese manufacturer’s 2001-launched model.

An updated version, the Mavic Pro 3, came two years later, providing much improved flight performance and a wider range of camera options.

But both have been superseded by Steve’s current Mavic 3M (multispectral), which has the capability to assess crop establishment, plant health and weed distribution.

This data can be fed into software to create variable rate application maps, and he’s now supplying mapping services directly to growers and collaborating with local agronomists. Nutrition management is the primary purpose.

“Many farmers still rely on satellite data for broad field assessments and this imagery typically has a resolution of about 5m.

“With the drone, we can achieve resolution of just 6mm, so it’s far more accurate,” he adds.

Gaining traction

Looking to build on its mapping service, last year Steve began researching larger agricultural drones with other capabilities such as spreading and spraying.

After considering the options from several makers, including Chinese firm XAG’s P100 Pro, he decided to stick with DJI.

In part, this was because the intuitive control software and user-friendly interface is essentially the same across its range, so if pilots can fly the smallest DJI Mini then they’ll be able to operate the firm’s biggest ag model, the Agras T50.

The T50 was launched in China in 2022 and revealed to European farmers for the first time at 2023’s Agritechnica show in Germany.

Having initially considered the smaller T10, T30 and T40 DJI ag drones, the release of the T50 – with a greater payload for spreading and spraying – forced a rethink, and he went on to purchase one for about £22,000.

Whichever model a business considers buying for commercial use in the UK, it must have a specific operational authorisation, known as an operational safety case (OSC), from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

© Adam Clarke

Gathering paperwork

Steve set about gaining all the certification for the Agras T50, as at the time of purchase no one in the UK had permission to use one commercially.

The process involved preparing a comprehensive operations manual detailing flight procedure, risk assessments and safety mitigations.

Evidence of the necessary pilot certification was also required.

This meant passing an online theory test to obtain a flyer ID, followed by a GVC (General Visual Line of Sight Certificate) course and assessment.

Working with an aviation consultant, it took several months to gather the necessary documentation for the OSC, then another four for the CAA to process the application.

The first OSC for Agras T50, T30 and T10 drones was granted at the end of July and the process cost about £20,000, not including Steve’s own time.

“Just two days after approval, we were in Yorkshire applying fertiliser to willow coppice for biomass.

“It would usually take a team of people six to eight weeks to do the job by hand, but we did it in three hours and with greater precision thanks to the drone’s RTK guidance,” he explains.

Steve’s T50 has covered some 800ha since gaining permission to fly, with jobs including establishment of cover and forage crops by broadcasting the seeds – sometimes into standing cereal crops – via the drone’s spreading module.

Work rates when spreading and seeding vary depending on the material and prevailing conditions, but when applying cover crops on arable land he’s been able to cover 15-20ha/hour.

SAS Land Services now has T50 settings templates for a range of seed mixes and solid and liquid fertiliser products.

These cover details such as height, flight speed, swath width, disc speed and calibration factors.

© Adam Clarke

Limiting factor

The only thing currently limiting the drone’s potential is a lack of fully approved plant protection products (with Mapp number) to apply either with the spreading unit or through its 40-litre spraying module with centrifugal nozzles.

However, that is likely to change very soon, with several agricultural drone operators working with a slug pellet manufacturer to legally apply bait to crops in the UK.

There are also ongoing discussions around herbicide spraying, which would allow patch treatment of weeds such as blackgrass, and SAS Land Services has been carrying out water-based spray tests in vineyards to assess leaf coverage. In time, this may lead to fungicide approvals.

“There’s a lot of interest in aerial application to avoid issues like compaction with larger machines, so I’m hopeful in the next 12 months we might see some product approvals.

“Glasshouse shading is another market, and we have a specific liquid solar panel cleaner that we can apply, so targeting solar farms or solar installations on farm buildings is a potential growth area for us.”

Steve says the firm is now looking to expand its fleet and a few would-be pilots are already in training. 

The plan is to eventually cover mainland UK, with satellite teams already established in Lancashire and Worcestershire.

Initially, these will be directly employed but there is the potential of introducing a franchise model in the future.

“The goal is for our pilots to be able to respond very quickly to farmers’ needs, offering timely and effective solutions with our drones,” he says.

© Adam Clarke