Agricultural Aircraft Operator Certificate - After confirming that the dispensing you want to do by drone is in fact agricultural, and therefore subject to the Part 137 rules, the next step is to petition the FAA for an exemption from any relevant rules so that you can conduct your operation.
Despite this fairly broad list of activities, there are a few exceptions that fall outside the Part 137. For example, dispensing live insects by air does not fall under the Part 137, even if it's part of an agricultural operation.
Agricultural Aircraft Operator Certificate
In fact, the specific drones that were used to spray disinfectant were ag drones—drones like those made by XAG, a Chinese company devoted to making drones for agriculture, or like those in DJI's Agras series, all of which are made for work in agriculture.
Petition For An Exemption
. In the US, you are required to have a commercial license if you fly an aircraft "for compensation or hire". So yes a commercial license is required (in addition to lots of application specific training).
I suppose you could dust your own crops without a commercial license depending on how the FAA determines how "compensation" applies in that case. But spraying disinfectant falls under a set of rules established by the FAA for agricultural aircraft operations, as does most of the other kinds of aerial spraying you might want to do for work in agriculture.
(c) Commercial operator—pilots. The applicant must have available the services of at least one person who holds a current U.S. commercial or airline transport pilot certificate and who is properly rated for the aircraft to be used.
Private agricultural aircraft operators may not conduct operations for compensation or hire, or conduct operations over a congested area. The Operator must provide proof of property ownership or other property interest in the crop located on that property where the operation will
be conducted. Short answer: you can do aerial application on your own crops with a private certificate, but if you're going to do it commercially then you need a commercial certificate. In both cases you also need an agricultural aircraft operator certificate.
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