Article by Ross Benisch

Last year, MKC made the investment to purchase Rantizo spray drone technology. We anticipate this segment of custom application will grow quickly over the next few years.  With innovation being one of our core values at MKC, we continually look for new products and services that will bring value to our customers and we believe these drones have a unique fit to do so.  These large drones are six feet across and weigh about 160 pounds fully loaded.  It uses a 54-volt battery with an 8-gallon tank that allows about 15 mins of spray application before needing to change the battery.

It is classified as aerial application. Products must have an aerial label to be applied with this technology. Most work is performed at 2-3 gallons/acre.  Today, we can only fly one drone at a time which allows us to cover about 8-10 acres/hr. Hopefully we will be able to fly up to three drones in the same field at once soon. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must approve that capability.

We believe there is a niche market for crops that are not easily accessible by a ground rig or airplane. This might include fields near towns or sensitive houses, fields with electrical lines, specialty crops that are considered small scale for an airplane, or rough pasture spraying.  Pasture must not have trees over 10 feet tall scattered throughout the field, as the drone sensors do not detect these one-off obstacles very well.  A great fit would be fungicide application on wheat, corn, or soybeans. 

For 2023, the service area is south-central Kansas. There is a minimum application fee of $500 that covers set up and up to 20 acres of application.  Additional acres are $12.00/ac. 

Please contact Ross Benisch at rbenisch@mkcoop.com or 620-386-4139 if you have fields that you are interested in having applied with this technology. If you are outside the south-central Kansas service area but are interested, please still reach out to Ross so we can plan for future areas of expansion.