- Australia’s farm scale makes it a strong BVLOS drone market, says DJI
- DJI says regulation is no longer the main obstacle to growth.
- Operational hurdles now include skills, terrain and cost.
With large and geographically dispersed farming operations, Australia could potentially be one of the strongest markets for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone technology, believes DJI Agriculture.
Speaking to AgNavigator, a company representative highlighted Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) regulatory progress with the Temporary Management Instruction (TMI) 2025-03 framework, that marked a significant milestone for drone-use in agriculture.
“From an operational scalability perspective, we view CASA’s framework as one of the more forward-looking BVLOS approaches globally, and a strong foundation for scaling agricultural drone operations.”
Under the framework, eligible Remote Operator Certificate (ReOC) holders can apply for a broad area approval, allowing them to self-assess operational areas within an approved region.
This means that instead of seeking approval for each new site, operators can follow standardised pathways based on factors such as drone size and population density.
Flights that meet the prescribed safety criteria can be authorised by the operator, reducing deployment timelines from months to days.
The tech major said the policy shift was particularly significant for the country’s agriculture sector, which has farms that often span multiple properties across a region.
“The ability to operate across a broader area under a single approval can significantly reduce a constraint that has historically limited large-scale agricultural drone deployment,” said the rep.
It has already seen the benefits of this regulation in the mining sector, where sites often span vast, remote terrain, where routine pit monitoring, surveying and emergency response have traditionally required significant on-site resourcing
“We expect agriculture to be one of the important sectors to benefit significantly from this shift. Whether it’s monitoring crops, checking livestock or inspecting paddocks, being able to fly BVLOS over larger areas removes a barrier that has long held back large-scale drone use in farming.”
Scaling: The new challenge
Without the regulatory hurdles, DJI’s biggest mission in Australia has shifted from adoption to scaling, the rep said.
“With the regulatory path now clearer, the main barriers are operational: Australia’s vast, remote and harsh terrain makes reliable, repeatable operations at scale the real demand.
“Add to that the need for more skilled pilots and operators, better integration of drone data into farm workflows, and commercial models that make routine BVLOS cost-effective. These are all areas for potential development in the future.”
Despite those challenges, DJI sees significant long-term potential in the sector.
“The biggest opportunity is scale,” said the rep.
With Australia’s combination of large, dispersed landholdings and need to improve labour productivity creates conditions well suited to automated drone operations.
“The opportunity or the development direction could be to help Australian agriculture move from occasional drone use to drone infrastructure as a standard operating layer — and to do so safely, within CASA’s framework.”
According to DJI, it is working with a number of Australian agricultural drone operators to explore real-world applications in this space, with further case studies to be announced in the coming months.