Service: Drone Spraying
Fertilising maize when tractors couldn't - while using 92% less water
John Crockford farms maize at Wenvoe, just outside Cardiff. Foliar nitrogen pays on maize, but by the time the crop wants it it's too tall for most tractors to travel through. This would usually require a specialised self propelled sprayer tall enough to clear the crop but now with drone spraying it's possible to fly above it entirely.
92%
Less water usage compared to boom sprayer
75 ha
Covered in one day
10 L/ha
Water used, against 100-150 by tractor
The task: Apply 20 litres per hectare of foliar nitrogen across 75 hectares of standing maize. We put it on in 10 litres of water per hectare. A tractor mounted sprayer doing the same work carries 100 to 150 litres per hectare, ten to fifteen times the water, and all of it has to be hauled back and forth to the field costing further fuel.
Outcome: The 75 hectares went on in a day with nothing bashing through the crop. Rotor downwash pushed the application deep into the canopy and gave consistent coverage on the ear leaf and the middle to upper leaves, which is where the stomata and cuticle sit and where the younger foliage absorbs most efficiently. Getting foliar N onto maize at that height otherwise needs specialist high clearance equipment that most farms do not own, so the application usually slips past the best window or gets dropped altogether. John got his on at the right growth stage thanks to drone spraying. If you've written off foliar feeding your maize because you can't get onto the crop - think again, we can help!
Apply fertiliser to your maize no matter the height
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