2023-24 $20,000 instant asset write-off for farm business. Details here.

6 reasons why spray drones have a big future in small plot broadacre farming

2024: View upcoming spray drone demo day dates and locations 

2-min video: T30 spray drone demo, Golspie NSW (near Goulburn)

Case study images: T30 setup day on Kangaroo Island, SA

Article: Too wet? too steep? Where spray drones are getting the best results

A $500 govt. rebate is available for this drone for NSW farmers. More info

With every spray drone sold, DFH supports our customers in 5 key ways:

1. A full day equipment set up and training session, face to face on your property or an agreed location. Via Google Meet online if a particularly remote location. DFH is an official DJI authorised dealer for agricultural spray drones. 

2. A complimentary Phantom 4 RTK flight to contour map the first section of your property that you wish to spray first (up to 40 ha). Particularly useful if you have hilly or complicated terrain to spray.

3. Credit for receiving spray drone job inquiries from our job inquiries marketplace (35,000 inquiries processed). Very handy if you wish to use your spray drone as a commercial business or just to pick up the odd local job.

4. Extensive T10 and T30 parts supply locally in Sydney for express shipping to customers when your spray drone is out of action. Considerable T20 parts also in stock and some MG-1P parts.

5. An extra set of Tee jet nozzle tips to suit your application and goals (your choice of fine mist or heavier droplet size tips, AI or non-AI).

DJI Agriculture Authorised Service Center (ASC) & Authorised Dealer 

Drones For Hire (DFH) is a DJI Agriculture Authorised Service Center (ASC) and authorised dealer. DFH has multiple staff certified as official DJI Academy Certified Agras Instructors & DJI Certified Agras Repair Technicians. 

Choosing a spray drone manufacturer

At DFH we sell and recommend DJI spray drones and we are an official DJI dealer. DJI accounts for 75%+ of the world's total drone market and is known as the Apple of the drone industry. In 2018 DJI raised roughly $1 billion in funds and has 14,000 employees and 17 offices internationally. DJI's factories in Shenzhen include highly sophisticated automated assembly lines. Many of the components for these assembly lines are built in-house. We believe DJI has the best engineers, production lines, and the most innovative spray drones in the world. Other brands will follow but will find it very difficult to catch up to DJI's standard of dependability and safety  - for example in late 2021 one of China's largest news sites posted this article translated in English (original source) and video. We forecast that spray drones will soon have onboard mapping, plant species classification, and spot spraying in real-time, and that DJI will be at the forefront of these innovations, delivering them to market after they have been thoroughly tested. 

Quick Run-down 

• Access: Spray areas that can’t be accessed by vehicles or that vehicles get bogged in
• No ground impact: no earth compression/crop damage (unlike utes/tractors)
• Safer: Much less potential to get herbicide/pesticide on your body, unlike back-pack sprayers.
• Blanket spray. The T30 is large enough to consider for areas you would normally use a ute sprayer for, especially when you swarm 3 of them together (form a single controller). 

Efficiency 

The manufacturer claims the T30 achieves an efficiency of 40 acres per hour based on a dosage of 6 L/acre (herbicide or pesticide mixed with water/carrier), spraying width of 9 m, flight speed of 6.5 m/s, and height of 2.5 m. In our experience here in Australia we are getting up to 8ha per hour (70 ha per day)  in open flat terrain, and up to 4ha per hour (35 ha per day) in complex terrain (steep undulations and lots of trees etc).  

How to set it up to fly

Spray drones can be flown manually using the sticks on the remote controller but this is not common and normally only for small areas. It is more common to set up a Field Plan which is a 'grid pattern' that your draw over a google map on the T30 contkroller that gives instructions to your T30 to fly automatically like a ‘lawnmower pattern’ in the sky. The field plan tells the T30 where the boundaries are, trees/obstacles to go around, and when to turn the sprayers on and the spray rate (variable-rate spraying). You can save a Field Plan for each section of your property and then use it over and over again. 

Set up a Field Plan using 3 different methods 

1. On-site fly around (most common method)

Fly the T30 onsite and press a button to set each boundary corner,  mark obstacles, and set a calibration point.  See this 1-min video tutorial 

2. On-site walk around (best for smaller areas that are easy to access by foot). 

Walk around the property with the remote controller in your hand and do the same procedure as in the on-site fly around above. This 4-min video shows you how (video was made for the older T16 model but the main principles are very similar for the T30). 

3. Off-site software (from home PC).

Use DJI Terra software (1 yr. subscription included for free with the T30), on your computer to mark out the Field Plan as an overlay on a Google Map. This method is best if you know the piece of land very well – and don’t have to be there onsite to remember where the trees and powerlines and other potential obstacles are. 

Field Plan editing

You can edit / fine-tune your Field plan using Terra software after it has been created using either of the above 3 methods. You can adjust the boundaries, obstacles, distance between spray lines (imagine the black swim lane lines in a pool), spray amount/rate, flying speed, and the height above the ground. 2-min video 

Advanced Field Planning with the P4M or P4 RTK

DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral drone (P4M). For identifying the specific areas of your property that need spraying.

Before spraying, fly the P4M over your property first to capture NDVI images. Upload these images into DJI Terra software that will process them into an NDVI map. Open the NDVI map on your desktop computer and draw zones (with the mouse) around the areas that need spraying. Save the map to your SD card and insert it into the T30 controller as a zoned prescription map. The map tells the spray drone where to go and when to turn the sprayers on – in effect it ‘prescribes’ chemical to the areas of the property that need it.  

DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone (P4RTK) - best option for fruit tree growers/orchards.

Before spraying, fly the P4 RTK over your property first to capture RGB images (normal photos). Upload these images into DJI Terra software that will process them into a 3d map (terrain map/model). This 3d model allows you to create a Field Plan with more accuracy and precision than using the fly-around or walk-around methods explained above, especially if you are spraying fruit trees and or growing on a steep slope because the Field Plan is easier to create when you have a 3D view of your property.  

Note: we (DFH) are also looking into how the zoned prescription map from a P4 Multispectral drone could also be put into a Centre Pivot system. More on this later! 

Managing Field Plan accuracy

There are 2 different levels of accuracy that you can achieve regarding the flight path of the T30. 

1. Regular use (no RTK base station)

You don't need to add the base station if you are spraying on relatively simple, open flat terrain, up to mild undulations, and scattered trees. For example, a 100 ha soybean crop that needs spraying 1-3 times per year.  

2. Use a DJI RTK base station (using the DJI mobile station)

The DJI D-RTK 2 High Precision GNSS Mobile Station sits on a tripod on your property and uses RTK technology to improve accuracy. Particularly useful if you have more complex terrain, or spray frequently. 

Note you can also use NTRIP/ 'Network RTK' to get RTK accuracy but we don't normally suggest this as the accuracy gains depend on the distance from the network base stations and customers often spray in many different locations so its more practical to have your own base station. 

Useful to know

Extra spray nozzles (as needed)

The T30 comes standard with 16 x Teejet SX11001VS nozzles (orange). Relatively fine droplet size/mist. 

We also like the Teejet AI XR110015 (green), for less fine droplet size, and stronger penetration, less drift.  

Then there is the Teejet TX-VK4:3.6 L/min (For fruit trees)

You can purchase other Teejet nozzles from ag stores generally and experiment to get the perfect nozzle for your application. 

DJI SmartFarm – developing in 2022

The DJI SmartFarm cloud platform will be officially launched in 2022. For now, DJI has a beta version available for testing for T30 owners. You might be interested to use this beta (draft) version to get a heads up / explore it and check out the features such as: 

Cloud ortho processing
Field management
Elevation analysis
Variable-rate application
Mission planning
Ortho base map sharing to Agras app.

Orchard mode

If you are a fruit tree grower (avocadoes, mangoes, etc), the T30 can bend 2 of its 6 arms up at a semi oblique angle to get better spray coverage on the sidewalls of the plantation rows – improving spray penetration into the sides, not just the tops of the tress. 

Water and dust resistance

IP67 means it can fly in the rain and doesn’t mind the dust. Three layers of protection for core components The T30's overall water-resistance rating of IP67 rating makes it washable and corrosion-resistant ideal for spraying of pesticide, fertilizers, seeds, and feed.  

Precision and drift management 

The rotors (propellers) on the T30 increase downward wind field stability, resulting in fewer upward droplets, a larger effective spraying width, better droplet penetration, and more uniform distribution.

Dimensions of aircraft  

2,858 mm × 2,685 mm × 790 mm (with arms and blades unfolded)

2,030 mm × 1,866 mm × 790 mm (with arms unfolded and blades folded)

1,170 mm × 670 mm × 857 mm (with arms folded)

The aircraft weighs 26.4kg when dry and no batteries, and 66.5 kg when fully loaded with 30L of liquid and one (10.1 kg) battery. Or 71.5 kg when fully loaded with 35 kg of granules and one (10.1 kg) battery. The maximum tolerable wind speed is 29kph. 

T30 package shipping information
 

We prefer to use TNT Road, and can ship to most areas in QLD, NSW, ACT, VIC in about 3-4 business days, and WA, TAS, NT in about 5- 7 business days . The total typical T30 package with 3 batteries is about 65-70 kg in weight, the dimensions are approximately as follows (5 x parcels). 

1 x ( 45 kg 119cm x 76cm x 111cm )

1 x ( 11 kg 35cm x 26cm x 37cm )

3 x ( 10 kg 40cm x 30cm x 20cm )