Ag spray drone distributors have formed a coalition to urge lawmakers to reconsider plans to restrict the US activities of Chinese drone maker DJI Technologies.
Members of the new coalition— Pegasus Robotics, Rantizo, Bestway Ag, Drone Nerds, HSE-UAV, and Agri Spray Drones, who all supply DJI drones—are direct competitors. However, they felt compelled to team up after a defense spending bill that passed in the House of Representatives last month included amendments that would add equipment and services from DJI to the so-called ‘covered list.’ This would block DJI from getting FCC licenses for future drone models and potentially lead to the revocation of existing FCC authorizations.
As the Senate version of the defense bill (which has not yet passed) does not include the same provisions vs DJI, US farmers will not know if they will be included in the final version until it goes through the reconciliation process.
In the meantime, US distributors of DJI drones—the clear leader in the US ag spray drone market with an 80%+ share—are “doing everything we can” to ensure members of Congress understand the potentially devastating effects of blocking DJI’s activities in the US, Drone Nerds CEO Jeremy Schneiderman told AgFunderNews.
“Coalition members are engaging directly with lawmakers, but we’re also encouraging customers that use DJI drones to contact their state representatives via the drone advocacy alliance to explain the significant impact a ban on DJI bans would have on the agricultural industry.”
“There has been no factual evidence suggesting that data collected by agricultural drones is being provided to the Chinese government. On the contrary, companies like DJI have proactively and voluntarily implemented geofence flight restrictions for restricted airspace, demonstrating a commitment to security, not espionage.” Bryan Sanders, president, HSE-UAV
Coalition keen to ‘protect vital data across all drones, regardless of country of origin’
DJI distributors that have spoken to AgFunderNews in recent weeks say fears that ag spray drones could be commandeered mid-flight for nefarious purposes or send vital information back to China are overblown. However, the coalition is keen to address lawmakers’ security concerns and create cybersecurity standards or appropriate regulations to “protect vital data across all drones, regardless of country of origin,” said Schneiderman.
As for why more farmers are not ‘buying American,’ he said: “We’re an American company and we support American [drone] manufacturers. But our job is to provide our customers with the best solution to get their spraying done. Today those solutions happen to be non-American solutions, and we would be doing a disservice to our customers by bringing them products with fewer features, that are less reliable, and are three times the price.”
He added: “I support the US government subsidizing US manufacturers although I don’t necessarily agree that subsidies from the Chinese government are the reason why DJI is so far ahead of US manufacturers; they just started earlier and built a large advantage over competitors very early on.”
Bryan Sanders, president at full-service industrial drone company HSE-UAV, added: “To truly outpace China, we need to invest in our own capabilities. I urge lawmakers to prioritize funding American manufacturing and research while carefully considering the complexities of transitioning away from existing technologies. This will require collaboration between policymakers, industry leaders, and agricultural experts to forge a sustainable path forward.”
DJI: ‘We’re trying to meet with as many people we can on the Hill’
Speaking to AgFunderNews last week, Adam Welsh, head of global policy at DJI, explained: “We’re trying to meet with as many people we can on the Hill to go through what we do on data security, and we’re also encouraging our customers to stay engaged and keep up the pressure.”
The company added: “We don’t have specific market share numbers to provide, but a rough estimate suggests that approximately four out of every five ag drones utilized by US farmers are DJI models.”
US farmers have been steadily increasing their use of spray drones in recent years, with 3.7 million acres sprayed by drone in 2023 across 41 states and 50 crops, mostly by Chinese-made drones, claim members of the new coalition.
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