Spray Drone Startup - The Complete A-Z Guide to Starting Your Own Agricultural Drone Business
Start your own agricultural spray drone business with our full A–Z guide. This 90+ page eBook walks you through how to price your services, find customers, understand key regulations, and avoid the costly mistakes we’ve already made. If you’re serious about spray drones, this guide gives you the roadmap, numbers, and strategy to build a successful business in 2025 and beyond.
$132,000
How Much I Made in 24 Days
Imagine being able to pay off your equipment in your first year, and having a highly lucrative business going forward.These are my numbers from my first spray season. We’ve created this guide for future pilots just like you. By the end of this, you’ll know what you need to get started.
A little bit about
What's Included
This 90+ page guide includes everything you need to know about starting your own agricultural spary drone business! Below are some of the chapters included and further information.
We cover everything you need to know in this ebook from how to get started, working with farmers, your return on investment, legal requirements and so much more.
We walk you through our own experience with farmers and how they feel about agricultural drones. We know that farmers love that they can contract a single custom applicator to do all their fields. No matter if it’s a 7-acre field, or a 2,000-acre parcel.
How large is the market? How much do I charge? What is the average field size? All of your questions will be answered.
How quickly can you start turning a profit? All is revealed based on real-world experience.
We cover all of the legalities behind starting your own drone agricultural spraying business.
Learn from the best. Not only do we sell the equipment but we use it on a regular basis. We will explain everything to you in detail.
How to start and grow your business starting today!
All About the A-Z Guide
Real world in-person Coaching Included
Come to our HQ in Dundee Ohio, and participate a day of coaching where you get comfortable operating your agricultural drone with a season pilot guiding you every step of the way. FREE and included with your purchase. Coaching are typically held every week, and kept to small groups so the coacher can spend 1-1 time answering questions.
FAQ
Have a question ? We are here to help.
How hard is it to learn to fly an Ag Drone like the T40?
Efficiently operating the T40 is not as easy as the Matrice 30T or a smaller drone. It will require some practice. It can be learned, but you will be best served by spending a day with a seasoned pilot teaching you the ropes. That's why we offer in-person coaching at our HQ in Dundee Ohio.
How do drone pilots typically charge for spraying?
In our area in NE Ohio, we charge between $14-$17 per acre. In some areas it could be as low as $12/acre and as high as $19/acre. This covers the cost of application only - the farmer is providing the chemical.
If the fields are large and wide open, a drone pilot might charge less per acre, but if they are broken up and hard to get to, he may charge more per acre or even have a trip charge in addition to the acreage.
How many acres can a drone setup cover per day?
Because agricultural drone pilots get paid per acre, an efficient setup is the difference between making a killing or just covering the cost of equipment.
Small chopped up fields: If you're spraying small chopped up fields of 20-50 acres, you may only be able to cover 300-500 acres per drone setup (2 drones + a trailer) per day. This assumes you will have some travel time & 15-25 setups/tear-downs. At 400/acres per day at a average $15/acres this would amount to $6,000/day gross.
Wide open running: If you have large wide-open fields of 100+ acres, and you are able to setup close to the fields, you may be able to hit 600-800acres. 800 acres at an average of $15/acre is $12,000/day gross.
There's lots that goes into an efficient spray operation. You'll need an experienced pilot and have a plan for logistics like refueling, battery management, and more.
How many acres can a Agras T40 spray per hour?
32-40 acres per hour if the drone is consistently in the air. This assumes a experienced pilot, and an efficient operation when it comes to refilling/recharging/setup/teardown.
Experienced drone pilots learn to minimize the time drones are not flying. After all - If the drone isn't covering acres, nobody is making money.
That's why things like the trailer and generator setup are much more important than most rookie realize.
What's the best Agricultural Drone available?
We've tried different drones. There is one clear winner - it's the Agras T40 by DJI. Nobody else even comes close. You know it's more than just our opinion when the XAG dealer switches over to DJI for their own spraying.
Are there any bigger drones than the T40 available?
No - there's not. Although DJI has bigger drones like the T60 in their lineup with widespread use in Asian countries like China, the FAA does not yet permit bigger drones to fly yet.
How can I get leads for my new drone spray business?
There's two typical ways to approach this:
Chemical retailing companies: You could become an applicator for a chemical retailer company if they don't have their own drone division. Running an efficient drone operation is not as simple as some people think, so some chemical retailers who have their own drone division, can't really cover significant acres and are looking for subcontractors to help. Remember, if they need a way t apply the chemical in order to sell it. The ideal setup is where the chemical company bills the customer for the chemical & the application and then remits payment to you. It's typical for a chemical company to charge $2/acre fee for this service.
Farmers: As more and more farmers become aware of the benefits of spray drones, many of them are looking for a spray drone operator in their area. Free demos, local farm-shows, and local advertising can help you be found by farmers searching for someone in your area. Here's a good exercise: Imagine you were a farmer wanting to find a spray drone pilot - would you be able to find your company/profile online?
What kind of coaching do you offer?
With the purchase of every T40 drone is an invitation to join us on a coaching day at our HQ in Dundee Ohio. We'll help you unbox and setup your drone, and then walk you through real-life spraying, where we'll spray water over nearby fields.
Courses are one-day, and will be held once a week. You can schedule your coaching after completing your purchase.
I have other questions
If you have further questions - you can contact our team at (234) 423-4979 or email sales@dronedeerrecovery.com and we will get back to you within one business day.