Solutions
Precision agriculture, from scouting to application.
Precision agriculture begins with data. A scouting drone covers the field quickly and identifies variation that is not visible to the naked eye: crop stress, nutrient deficiency, disease onset, drainage failure and establishment gaps, in many cases up to ten days before symptoms appear.
That data allows treatment to be targeted to the affected areas, which are often small and specific, rather than applied uniformly across the field. Product goes where it is required, at the rate it is required, at the point in the season when it will have the biggest impact.
We supply easy to use scouting drones that capture the data, upon which we can generate agronomy reports for farmers to use. We also supply the application systems that act on the results.
Seeding and application
Seeding. Cover crops, catch crops, grass and overseeding, placed accurately without a machine pass across the field.
Precision fertilisation and crop spraying. Liquid and granular product applied at variable rate against the survey data, targeted to the areas requiring treatment.
Because the drone carries no axle load, application can proceed when ground conditions would stop a machine. Waterlogged, soft and newly established ground can be treated at the point the crop needs it, rather than when the field will carry a sprayer.
The economic case
- Fertiliser. Reductions of 30 to 40 per cent where variable rate application replaces uniform spreading.
- Wheelings and compaction. Recovery of the crop area lost to tramlines, typically around 5 per cent of the field, with no axle load and no yield penalty carried into later seasons.
- Timing. Treatment applied at the point of maximum effect rather than when ground conditions allow.
- Water. Reductions of up to 90 per cent in spray carrier volume.
- Access. Parcels that are uneconomic to travel with machinery, treated at the same cost per hectare as the rest of the farm.
What we supply
Scouting drones can carry multispectral and thermal sensors, and application platforms configured against tank or hopper capacity, swath width and terrain.
Pilot training is available as an additional service, and we can advise on preparing the operations manual and supporting documentation required for CAA authorisation.
Parts are held in the United Kingdom, repairs are carried out in our own workshop, and the enhanced warranty option provides priority servicing and maintenance, with loan equipment where parts are unavailable.
Regulatory position
All commercial agricultural operations require an Operational Authorisation from the Civil Aviation Authority, granted through UK SORA since April 2025.
Where the product is a plant protection product, the operation also falls within the legal definition of aerial application, requiring a permit from the Health and Safety Executive and an approved Application Plan under the Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012. The two approvals are independent and obtained separately.
Nutritional products, biostimulants, biological controls, pelleted fertiliser and seed require only the CAA authorisation, and most commercial drone application work in the United Kingdom currently operates on this basis.
The Operational Authorisation is held by the operator and not the supplier. The Bionic Eye assists clients in attaining their own.
Scouting as a service
Where you want the data but would rather not run the drone yourself, scouting is available as a managed service through FarmingByDrone.
Proven results
ABZ Innovation's field data supports the economics. In Tokaj vineyards, drone application cut operating cost by half, pesticide use by 54 per cent, water by 90 per cent and carbon emissions by 82 per cent against the previous method. On sunflowers, water use fell by 95 per cent and cost from around fifteen euros a hectare to one. A wheat trial with MATE recorded a yield gain of 0.8 tonnes a hectare from a single foliar treatment flown at flowering.
Biological pest control
The application platform also releases Trichogramma against the European corn borer, a beneficial insect placed by drone at up to 36 hectares an hour. It replaces a chemical pass with a biological one and reaches the crop at a growth stage when a ground sprayer cannot.
Field figures are ABZ Innovation's own. Results vary with crop, season and conditions.
Tell us the ground, the cropping and what you currently apply. We will advise on the survey and application systems, the approvals required and a realistic timescale.