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Agriculture has always been built on innovation. From mule-drawn plows to GPS-guided equipment, farmers have consistently adapted to new technology to better serve the land and the people who depend on it. Now, one Alabama Farmers Cooperative Member Co-op is taking that innovation to the sky. 

What started as a conversation in the spring of 2024 has quickly grown into a cutting-edge drone application program designed to help local farmers work smarter, safer and more efficiently. 

“We flew the first application in May or June of ’25,” said Eric Sanders, Blount Farmers Cooperative General Manager. “It’s a pretty big process to get somebody licensed, buy all the equipment, get a trailer and everything set up.” 

The process may have been lengthy, but the payoff is already proving worthwhile. 

The program was originally sparked by a longtime employee, Bobby Thomas, who brought the idea forward after years of interest in drone technology. Thomas, who has been with the Blount County Farmers Cooperative for around a decade, previously worked in traditional spray applications and other agronomy services before helping launch the drone program. 

“I’ve always been interested in drones,” Thomas said. “It really sparked my interest when the bigger ones like these came out. We talked over it and talked and talked and just went ahead and pulled the trigger.” 

Blount County Farmers Cooperative currently operates a DJI Agras T50 drone featuring a 40-liter, or approximately 10.5-gallon, spray tank capable of covering up to 52 acres per hour under standard application conditions. 

Because the drone is fully loaded with product during operation, each battery flight typically lasts around 8 to 10 minutes before requiring a refill and battery swap. To keep the operation running efficiently in the field, the drone team custom built its own mobile trailer setup complete with generators, mix tanks, product tanks and plumbing systems. Thomas said planning and logistics play a major role in every job because the drones operate much like a crop-dusting aircraft with strict FAA requirements and flight procedures. 

 While the technology itself is impressive, operating an agricultural drone commercially requires far more than simply flying it. 

“It’s a guaranteed almost two-year process of paperwork, testing and getting all the state-required certifications,” Thomas explained. 

Those certifications include forestry, aquatic, right-of-way and crop application licensing, along with FAA registration and flight regulations. 

“It’s a licensed aircraft,” Thomas said. “You have to go through every flight check and pre-check just like you were flying an airplane.” 

That commitment to doing things the right way is part of what sets local Co-ops apart. Instead of waiting on outside companies to bring services into the community, this Co-op invested directly into technology that benefits local farmers and landowners. 

“Because agriculture is constantly changing, I feel like we’re just keeping up with the new technology,” Sanders said. “Having it here locally is just another avenue that we have to offer services and provide a return to our business here at the Co-op.” 

“Because agriculture is constantly changing, I feel like we’re just keeping up with the new technology,” Sanders said. “Having it here locally is just another avenue that we have to offer services and provide a return to our business here at the Co-op.”

The drone program has already opened doors to services that simply were not possible before. The drone can apply herbicides to pastures and row crops, spray fungicides, sow seed, treat ponds with copper sulfate applications and even reach rough terrain inaccessible to traditional equipment. 

“We’ve done some rough places that you can’t get a tractor or sprayer through,” Sanders explained. “We’ve done work around airports, dams and ponds. The business is growing.” 

Unlike large sprayers, drones can also work over standing crops without damaging them. 

“It can spray back over corn, soybeans or cotton without making any tracks in the crop,” he said. 

The technology is also proving valuable after wet weather when traditional equipment may struggle to enter fields without leaving ruts or causing soil damage. 

“It does so much better work with less footprint on the ground,” Thomas said. “You don’t get washouts or ruts. It can cover ground right after it rains as long as it’s dry enough to get the product onto the plant.” 

For many farmers in the community, seeing the drone in action for the first time has been eye-opening. 

“The older farmers that we cater to had no idea this technology even existed until they saw it for the first time,” Thomas said. “Their jaws dropped. It was absolutely mind-blowing.” 

The program has also positioned the Co-op as an early leader in a rapidly growing area of agriculture. 

“We’re the first AFC Member Co-op that’s up and running,” Sanders said.  

That willingness to lead reflects a larger mission shared across the AFC system which is continually finding new ways to serve farmers and rural communities while staying rooted in local relationships and hands-on service. 

Taleecon Farmers Cooperative-Wetumpka is following that lead and starting its own drone program. 

As drone technology continues to evolve, AFC Member Co-ops remain committed to helping farmers access the latest tools while still providing the personal service and trust they’ve relied on for generations. 

At the end of the day, it’s still about serving the farmers, just with a little more technology in the air.