COVINGTON, Ohio – Apple Farm Service has partnered with Hylio, a leader in drone farming technology, to unveil new, self-spraying, agricultural technology involving precision crop autonomous drones. Hylio creates self-flying and self-spraying agricultural drones ranging from five feet to 15 feet wide that can carry between 2.6 and 18 gallons of product.

The partnership was unveiled during a ceremony last week on the grounds of Apple Farm Service in Covington, Ohio.

“With this new technology we will help change the future of agriculture,” said Alexander Ryan, precision farming manager with Apple Farm Service. 

The Hylio’s AG-272 with its 14-foot wing span can carry 200 pounds of agricultural inputs (fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides) and can cover as much acreage in a day as a $700,000 modern spraying tractor, yet all-in cost about $200,000.

The drones, built in southern Texas, are self-flying and spot-spraying. During last week’s ceremony, a drone was flown over the neighboring field demonstrating its ability.

Apple Farm Service in Covington is the only dealership in North America to sell and service these drones. A dealership in Louisiana sells the drones, but doesn’t have the capability of servicing them.

 “We’ve already had drones that go, and they’ll scout fields,” said Kent Holmes, marketing manager for Apple Farm Service. “They’ll look to see what issues they might have. But now, this is the next step, and I think the farmers see this as the next step. We know what issues are in the field now. We can also take care of spraying ourselves as well.

 “Legally, you can operate four of these at one time. With these drones you can cover hundreds of acres by having them swarm. The majority of farmers are purchasing smaller drones to do spot spraying, especially when they can’t get the crop duster out. We’ve seen them being used successfully by those with citrus trees and fruit vineyards.”

Hylio drones were designed and built in cooperation with U.S. engineers and farmers. The company offers four different sizes in drones. Hylio’s software allows users to import and export data, maps, and other reports for their other equipment, crop advisor, local co-op or any other business partner who needs data.

 Such high-tech drones are affordable, says Arthur Erickson, CEO and co-founder of Hylio.

 “This is the future. These drones will typically pay for themselves in one to two seasons,” Erickson said. “It’s more affordable than a lot of that traditional farm equipment. Farmers are used to shelling out $300,000 to $400,000 for traditional equipment. For that price you could have 10 drones in use.”

Erickson said a drone with a 12-foot span would cost roughly $40,000 and that all-in cost would include batteries, chargers, software, training, licenses and shipping. The smallest drones, those with a five-foot span, would cost between $20,000-$25,000.

“We tested these drones south of the border,” Erickson said, “because there were too many restrictions here in the U.S. at the time. We performed our research and development before we returned to the U.S. Upon our return to the states we did further testing in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota.”

 Erickson said running tractors can crush crops and many have a tough time getting into corners and around obstacles to get good coverage. Agricultural spraying drones, on the other hand, apply 400 pounds of down pressure on inputs as they fly 15 feet above crops, aerosolizing inputs and pushing them in among the plants and to the ground, providing much better coverage with no soil compaction.

Near the end of the ceremony, Ryan presented the Apple Farm Services’ largest drone being dedicated as “Ina’s Dream.” Ina Apple is the wife of founder, Henry Apple. Ryan said he talked with others who knew Ina, who noted that she was “caring, nurturing and passionate.”

 “Those are things that Apple Farm stands for,” Ryan said.

 “This was my baby from the start,” Ryan said. “My background is part agriculture, part aviation. My love of the two led me to Hylio. I interned at Ohio State Extension and they took a chance on me, and together we designed a drone curriculum a few years back. I approached Hylio’s CEO about the same time they were looking for a dealer, and we hit it off right away.”

 Also in attendance was State Rep. Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandria), Ohio State University representative Bob Horton, and other city and county representatives.

 For more information on the drones, contact Apple Farm Services precision farming department at 937-526-4851.