While United States farmers are using drones to spray crops, particularly for spot-spraying to control weeds, insects and diseases, so far there are no pesticides cleared by the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency for drone spraying in Canada.
In the United States, any sprays cleared for aerial application can be applied by drones.
If there are Canadians ignoring the lack of PMRA approvals, so far they have not been charged by the agency.
Drones are perfectly legal to be used to check crops, field conditions and livestock on pastures.
Drones could be useful for spot applications and for reaching hard-to-access areas. Ground sprayers are allowed, but they leave tracks of trampled crop such as in Ontario wheat fields sprayed during moist conditions to control fungal diseases that produce toxins.
