More Farmers Using Drones Than Ever
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
Bernt Nelson
Economist
photo credit: AFBF Photo, Mike Tomko
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
Bernt Nelson
Economist
Drones are no longer a niche tool in U.S. agriculture. Chad Smith has more on the increasing numbers of acres being covered by the new technology.
Smith: Drones are more of a mainstream farm management tool than ever before. Bernt Nelson, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, said drones are blanketing a rapidly increasing number of farmland acres.
Nelson: Acres treated by drones in the U.S. has jumped from 3.7 million in 2023 to about 16.4 million in 2025. That's a fourfold increase in about two years. Farmers don't just adopt technology like this because it's new. They do it because it works.
Smith: He said the drones are valuable because they complement the more traditional equipment like crop dusters or ground rigs.
Nelson: It's to fill those gaps where that existing equipment or the current methods leave behind. Time is bushels, and when timing matters and the fields aren't accessible, a drone can make the difference in getting in, getting the application done, and not getting it done. This leads to higher yields.
Smith: Other countries around the world also use drones, and each country’s usage differs based on their specific cropping system.
Nelson: Drones are being used to solve different problems within each unique production system in every country throughout the world. So, the question isn't who has the most drones, or who is using them the most. It's how farmers are using them and where these uses make the most sense. In the United States, they're being used to fill the gaps where other equipment can't.
Smith: You can read more about drone usage in agriculture by going to the Farm Bureau Intel page at fb.org. Chad Smith, Washington.
