Seven years ago, Madison Dixon spent months gaining clearance to fly a drone at night during a NCAA-anctioned Mississippi State football game. This year, many football fields will feature full drone light show displays on any given weekend.  

Drone access and ease of use are a quickly evolving aspect of drone technology and as drone tech develops, so too do drone regulations.  

“The point here is that the drone regulations we're dealing with are a moving target,” said Dixon, associate director of MSU’s Agricultural Autonomy Institute. “What they are today does not mean that's what they're going to be a month or six months or a year from now. They will change, that's guaranteed.”  

Dixon said drone regulations will continue to change until the dust settles on drone innovation. Mississippi State University and the Mississippi Department of Agriculture hope to be ahead of regulation changes and on the forefront of agricultural drone research.  

For agricultural drone pilots in Mississippi and the greater Delta region, Mississippi State has developed guidelines for the best way to become a certified drone applicator.  

Follow federal regulations 

For FAA certifications, drones fall into two size categories - under 55 pounds for small drones and over 55 pounds for large drones. All agricultural spray drones fall into the larger category, making agriculture the fastest growing area for large UAS operations.  

Related:Important drone laws you should know

FAA’s streamlining of regulations for large drones has opened up opportunities for agricultural spray drone pilots to pursue licensing more easily.  

“What the 44807 exemption process has now done is provided an avenue for commercial operations with large UAS,” Dixon said. “That's significant for a lot of reasons, but for historical perspective, this isn't the first time we've seen this. It's just that the size of the aircraft is now increasing. The nature of their operations is now different, but it does have a lot of similarities to what the drone industry experienced back in 2014 to 2016.” 

Although the streamlined FAA regulations make significant concessions for large drone operators, significant regulations still exist for the use of drones for agricultural spray applications.  

“This is what has created the significant interest in increasing adoption of spray drones, but it's still a considerable amount of regulations,” Dixon said. “It is so important to comply with those regulations for many, many reasons, but just note that the FAA is placing increasing scrutiny and increasing emphasis, increasing enforcement on UAS operating under Part 137.” 

To maintain the exemptions in place for ag drones, following regulations accurately is important. Dixon said the FAA has become aware of people operating drones inconsistently with the conditions and limitations of their exemptions. 

“If you get a request for information from the FAA, it will include how you need to produce all of this documentation and reports and everything that you were supposed to have been keeping track of,” Dixon said. “Know that it's important to operate in compliance with regulations, and to do so because that's the right thing to do and that's the safe thing to do, and not just because if you don't do it, you could get smacked with a $75,000 civil penalty.” 

Get tested, manage and maintain  

Drone operators in Mississippi have a few extra guidelines in addition to federal regulations. In Mississippi, law mandates anyone who is making an aerial application and is applying an agricultural substance must be licensed in-state. 

The first step is three testing components. 

“You'll have to take the general standards required in all states, aerial required in all states, and then the category for which you'll be making that application, again, all free,” said Laura Vollor, director for Mississippi’s Bureau of Plant Industry. “In other states, there is a cost for that.” 

Mississippi also requires drone operators to carry insurance as well as a $150 license fee per pilot and per aircraft. Drone operators renewing their licensing can avoid re-testing by attending annual training in-state. 

While Mississippi has limited extra requirements above FAA guidelines, the state has proceeded with caution in developing an evolving plan to help agricultural aerial applicators continue to operate in the state. 

“Not just Mississippi, not just aerial applicators, but for farmers in all the states, we need advocacy data. We need research. We need to keep up with FAA changes as quickly as possible,” Vollor said. “The technology is just moving, growing so quickly that we put together a Mississippi task force, and the importance of that task force is to disseminate good, consistent, accurate information, and you'll see more to come.” 

Dixon said the state’s amendments to drone policies in response to FAA’s streamlining occurred in December 2023 after thoughtful review. 

“The state requirements in Mississippi were not amended to include spray drones as quickly as some of our neighboring states,” Dixon said. “However, I think that the measured approach that was taken to establish a task force with a diverse group of stakeholders, and to solicit feedback from all those stakeholders, and to use that feedback to inform the amendments to the regulations was absolutely the best way to go about doing this.”