“I wanted to get drones for social media for promotions and marketing. It was pretty useful. It made for some cool videos,” Kenyon told the recent Canadian Agricultural Drone Association conference.

He found the DJI Mini Pro 3, a lightweight, foldable camera drone, so useful he bought a second, larger drone to seed pastures to help pasture rejuvenation.

“I don’t like new equipment, yet I still have two drones,” he told the group from across Canada gathered to learn more about drones and their uses.

While the initial drone was purchased to fly over his pastures and livestock to take pictures and video to show how he manages his grazing systems, he found it helpful to check livestock, fences, waterers and gates.

“I have very rough pastures. Driving out there in vehicles is pretty bumpy. The drones are really handy to check pastures and water systems. I can even tell when a herd needs to move. We rotate every couple days. I can tell the difference in colour where the fence lines are.”

Kenyon uses a heavy electric bungy cord as gates and can even tell from the air if the gates are closed.

“I am pretty happy with my 3. It does most of the things I need.”

In 2023, Kenyon bought a DJI Agras T-10 drone for seeding pastures from the air and has since spread seed on thousands of acres with the small drone for himself and customers.

“I am not very good with technology. I am the guy who asks his kids how to use my phone.”

Adding seed from the air is efficient and can add new seed varieties in the hard-to-reach parts of a pasture, but it is only one part of the grazing system, he told the group.

“I am a terrible salesman. I tell them, ‘If you are not going to change your grazing, don’t bother seeding because you are wasting your money.’ ”

Kenyon uses the footprints of cattle to punch the seed into the pasture to help establish the new seeds while rotating the cattle through the paddocks.

“I practice regenerative agriculture. My way of thinking is growing soil from the plants. The plants are a tool to grow soil; then we get the biology and get a perpetual fertility system,” he said.

“It all works together. You can’t just add seed. You can’t just have cows out there. We need the combination of everything working together. I am trying to build ecosystems. The cow is a keystone species in a grazing environment.”

“The drones, especially these agriculture drones, provide a very rare opportunity for young folks,” said Steve Li, a professor and drone researcher with Auburn University in Alabama.

He said embracing agricultural technology, including drones, is a way young people can stay connected to the farm.

“I see that happening all over the place. It gives young folks a chance to be entrepreneurial and fight back against this social trend of leaving the farm. This is something that is very rare and valuable,” said Li at the conference, where most of the 190 registrants were young.

While the rules around spraying chemicals from drones in Canada are different than in the United States, Li said that when the Canadian rules change to allow drone herbicide spraying, it will be a way young people can start their own agricultural business without a large cash outlay.

“Some kids even finishing high school can start their own business with less than $150,000, be legal and have a quick ROI. Most young operators I know were able to pay off the debt and the equipment and start to make money after one season.”

Brothers Todd, 22, and Brayden, 26, Fraser of Churchbridge, Sask., came to the first annual drone conference to gain a better understanding of the quickly changing drone technology and how they can use it on their farm and for a business venture.

“They are a much more approachable price point versus million dollar planes,” said Brayden.

“If you can do it yourself, you can save money,” added Todd, who believes more pre-set applications and settings will make spray drones easy to use.

Elron Davis, 16, of Grovedale, Alta., has been flying drones since he was eight.

At 13, a YouTube video of spray drones caught his interest, but regulations, licensing and cost gave him pause. Now, he is helping out at the conference’s trade show, trying to absorb as much information as he can about drones and the industry.

“It is aviation and I like aviation a lot and it is connected to farming and I grew up with farming.”

Tyler Hatton of Blenheim, Ont., left an 18-year career as a salesman with John Deere to jump into the new and exciting drone industry.

“This is the next generation’s business opportunity. The cost of entry is very low compared to hard iron or traditional methods of spraying,” said Hatton of Drone Spray Canada.

A traditional sprayer can cost $750,000 or more compared to a $50,000 entry level drone, an investment many young people can afford to start an agricultural business and help remain in their community.

“The young kids are going to have a way to get into agriculture, make some money, be effective and keep moving forward,” said Hatton.

“Every single person you talk to is excited about the opportunity, where it can go, what the new things they can do, how to do things differently. There has been no negative talk. It has been all positive.”