5 ms·

Can they not dispense this with existing crop duster aircraft?

Aelinsaar 10y ago
At a guess, cropdusters are not designed to dispense something as thick and colloidal as peanut butter, and they're designed to maximize coverage. Presumably these animals do better with "pellets" of peanut butter, rather than a fine mist of peanut butter slurry applied evenly over the landscape. Presumably, everyone does better with that.
- mc32 10y ago
  Cropdusters, I believe, used to be able to broadcast either seed or other matter[1], if outfitted properly. So, I think it's possible, they'd just need the right attachment for the belly of the Ag Cat, Snow AT or similar. On the other hand a drone might be cheaper to rent a operate than a personned aircraft. [1]http://reveg-catalog.tamu.edu/09-Seeding.htm#Aircraft_Spreaders http://reveg-catalog.tamu.edu/09-Seeding.htm#Aircraft_Spread...
  - Aelinsaar 10y ago
    Huh, I had no idea that cropduster aircraft were so versatile, I just thought they had tanks and sprayers. Thanks for the info.
  - niccaluim 10y ago
    Way cheaper, and safer.
    - mc32 10y ago
      Good point about the safety. That said, a nice Ag Cat or Snow AT can carry a hefty load of those pellets in the hopper and spread it with venturi or even a centrifugal broadcaster. Probably a ton or two or more?
      - niels_olson 10y ago
        Yeah, that was my thought. Cost per hour, drone wins. Cost per pound, above some limit, the plane wins.
    - TeMPOraL 10y ago
      Cheaper? Not sure. I recall a thread here once about using drones for agriculture where someone pointed out that they can rent out an aerial op over their fields (not sure whether it was spraying crops or just photographing the field with IR cameras and stuff) for less than it would cost to get a single drone in the discussed project, that would likely require lots of those drones to make sense. Agricultural plane rental in the US seems to be cheap, like taking a cab every now and then is much cheaper than buying a scooter for every member of your family.
riscy 10y ago
Lacing food (peanut butter) is a more direct way to administer the vaccine than just spraying it everywhere.
js2 10y ago
According to the article: "Matchett says airplanes aren’t quite right for the ferret mission, because the delivery must be precise, and therefore low-flying."

At a guess, cropdusters are not designed to dispense something as thick and colloidal as peanut butter, and they're designed to maximize coverage. Presumably these animals do better with "pellets" of peanut butter, rather than a fine mist of peanut butter slurry applied evenly over the landscape. Presumably, everyone does better with that.

mc32 10y ago
Cropdusters, I believe, used to be able to broadcast either seed or other matter[1], if outfitted properly. So, I think it's possible, they'd just need the right attachment for the belly of the Ag Cat, Snow AT or similar. On the other hand a drone might be cheaper to rent a operate than a personned aircraft. [1]http://reveg-catalog.tamu.edu/09-Seeding.htm#Aircraft_Spreaders http://reveg-catalog.tamu.edu/09-Seeding.htm#Aircraft_Spread...
- Aelinsaar 10y ago
  Huh, I had no idea that cropduster aircraft were so versatile, I just thought they had tanks and sprayers. Thanks for the info.
- niccaluim 10y ago
  Way cheaper, and safer.
  - mc32 10y ago
    Good point about the safety. That said, a nice Ag Cat or Snow AT can carry a hefty load of those pellets in the hopper and spread it with venturi or even a centrifugal broadcaster. Probably a ton or two or more?
    - niels_olson 10y ago
      Yeah, that was my thought. Cost per hour, drone wins. Cost per pound, above some limit, the plane wins.
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    Cheaper? Not sure. I recall a thread here once about using drones for agriculture where someone pointed out that they can rent out an aerial op over their fields (not sure whether it was spraying crops or just photographing the field with IR cameras and stuff) for less than it would cost to get a single drone in the discussed project, that would likely require lots of those drones to make sense. Agricultural plane rental in the US seems to be cheap, like taking a cab every now and then is much cheaper than buying a scooter for every member of your family.

riscy 10y ago

Lacing food (peanut butter) is a more direct way to administer the vaccine than just spraying it everywhere.

js2 10y ago

According to the article: "Matchett says airplanes aren’t quite right for the ferret mission, because the delivery must be precise, and therefore low-flying."