US farmers air concerns over ban on drones

For Tony Zenari, a drone is a tool as essential as a tractor, used daily to check on crops, monitor weed control and track flooding in his fields. For Nick Grott, a combat veteran, agricultural drone applications gave him a professional purpose, something he had searched for since his honorable discharge. And for William B. Blaylock II, a drone is what lets him inspect rooftops and farm buildings, and search for lost or injured cattle across wide stretches of land in a fraction of the time it once took.

Their stories, submitted as public comments to the US Federal Communications Commission, are among more than 32,000 filed by US farmers, agricultural spray operators, search-and-rescue teams and small business owners calling for the reversal of a ban on Chinese-made drones. They say the technology has transformed how they work, and the sudden cutoff, they warn, would inflict real and immediate harm.

The FCC announced in December that it would add all new foreign-made drones and critical components, including those from Chinese drone maker DJI, to its "covered list" of communications equipment and services deemed to pose "an unacceptable risk" to US national security. While the agency has since exempted some drones from the list, the restrictions still fall short of clearing the way for camera-equipped drones made by DJI and another Chinese manufacturer, Autel.

DJI filed a petition in January challenging the FCC's decision, arguing it violates constitutional and federal law. Ahead of a May 11 public comment deadline, the agency was flooded with submissions, overwhelmingly from farmers, ag-spray specialists and small operators urging regulators to reconsider.

The FCC has extended the comment window to Aug 28, after DJI submitted an independent cybersecurity audit into the record on June 9. That assessment, conducted by US firm OnDefend, found no evidence of hidden backdoors, no data transmissions outside the United States, and no viable pathway for the drones to be hijacked or weaponized, according to the report. DJI's petition now sits with the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology and the full five-member commission, awaiting a final ruling.

In his comment filed in May, Zenari described how difficult it has already become to obtain parts, repairs or new units for his small family farm, work that DJI drones used to handle in a few hours. Without them, he said, the farm would be forced back onto diesel-burning tractors costing thousands of dollars a week to operate. "It must be reconsidered. If not, the environment and the future of farming will suffer greatly," he wrote.

Andrew Adams of Aerial Acres AG in Michigan said agricultural drones now deliver precision, efficiency and cost savings at a moment when farm margins are tight and input costs are climbing, which allows growers to apply crop protection products and nutrients with pinpoint accuracy while cutting waste and environmental impact.

For small and mid-sized operations especially, he said, the technology has helped level the playing field against larger competitors.

Aaron Wright, founder of Whiskey Mike Drone Solutions, has used DJI spray drones, including the Agras T40 and, more recently, an EAVision J150, to treat thousands of acres for farmers. He said, in his comment, that US-made alternatives are still not close to matching DJI's hardware and software.

A recurring theme across the comments is that the FCC's restrictions rest on national security claims that operators say have not been substantiated.

Creating hardship

Blaylock said he supports "reasonable security standards", but broad bans on foreign-built drones would instead create hardship for the responsible users who rely on them daily. He said that cutting off access without practical alternatives would hurt lawful civilian, agricultural and creative work nationwide.

Grott, who founded the Indiana Spray Drone Association and now operates Patriot Aerial Solutions, said, "A direct cutoff or accelerated ban on Chinese-manufactured drone platforms could severely impact small businesses like mine that have invested heavily into this industry under the current regulatory environment."

Experts and operators alike say US-made drones are not yet positioned to replace Chinese models in the near term, particularly because key components, many of which are themselves on the FCC's covered list, cannot simply shift from Chinese to domestic production overnight.

Volitant Technologies, a Nebraska-based agricultural drone retailer serving hundreds of farmer customers, said DJI's Agras series has become "the operational backbone of precision agriculture for thousands of US farms" at a time when growers are facing some of their toughest economic conditions in years.

Losing access to new models and firmware updates, the company said, would leave US farmers with degraded performance, decreased yields and no viable path to next-generation precision tools without absorbing additional costs.