120: Autonomous Drone Vineyard Spraying

Imagine improving both the efficiency and safety of your team with autonomous drone vineyard spraying. That is exactly what David Goldfarb and the team at Clos de la Tech are trialing in their vine rows. Although this technology has been used in Japan for a number of years, it is new to the United States. Initially, they looked to drones as a way to scout for pests. Spraying was limited due to the small capacity of the machines. Then an advancement inspired by COVID stadium sanitation standards changed the game. A tethering system was created to attach the drone to a full-sized tank with a lightweight hose.

Since FFA standards are still being written for drone spray applications, trials were conducted with water. The Clos de la Tech team found that coverage could be more than sufficient and they look forward to testing this technology more in the future.

References:

• 51: Effective Vineyard Spraying
• Clos de la Tech
• Drone Technology to Spray Vineyards Gains Popularity
• Pesticide Application Technology at Cornell
• SIP Certified
• Sustainable Ag Expo
• Waste Not, Want Not!: Recent advances in technology for the precise spraying of pesticides (Video)

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