American drone-maker Hylio is mostly insulated from recent tariff impacts, according to its CEO, Arthur Erickson.
“We’ve always positioned ourselves as making as much of our products in America as we can,” Erickson recently told High Plains Journal. “If we had to import some parts, we did it from nearby friendly countries. Our supply chain was ‘de-China’d’ some time ago; we’ve had maybe 5% exposure to tariff effects, so we have not had to raise any of our prices.”
Drones on the farm help precision agriculture reduce input costs by using smaller, smarter and more flexible devices to replace more expensive and larger machines. Artificial intelligence powers much of this trend.
Hylio itself uses AI both in its production processes and in its drones’ tools. “We are implementing AI-powered weed identification tools within our existing software platform (which is called AgroSol),” Erickson said. Hylio is also engaging with data-analytics company Palantir on the possibilities for incorporating more AI into their software.
DJI import troubles
President Donald Trump’s tariffs have accelerated challenges for Chinese drone-maker Da-Jiang Innovations, whose popular drones lead the world in sales—including in the United States—until recently. China is estimated to control 90% of the world’s commercial drone market. DJI’s tariff troubles began in September of 2019, when the Biden administration imposed 15% tariffs on its products, forcing DJI to raise the prices of several drone models in the U.S. by approximately 13 to 15%.
The Mavic 2 Pro’s price increased from $1,499 to $1,729, and the Mavic Air rose from $799 to $919. These adjustments were directly attributed to the tariffs by DJI. At the time of writing, Trump has imposed tariffs of 145% on all Chinese imports.
Beyond tariffs, DJI has faced additional challenges importing drones into the U.S. In late 2024, the company reported that U.S. Customs and Border Protection was blocking certain drone imports, citing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. DJI claims that it does not use forced labor and is working to resolve the issue.
The National Defense Authorization Act passed in December 2024 includes provisions that could lead to a ban on DJI products if the company cannot demonstrate that its products do not pose a national security risk. This legislation initiates a one-year period for DJI to provide such proof; failure to do so will result in a ban on their products in the U.S. It’s widely expected that DJI will not meet that test, unless the Chinese Communist Party changes its policy that states every Chinese-owned company must provide its data to the party on request.
Future farming
Erickson keeps an eye on what ag tech researchers are doing in the Netherlands.
“We buy our controller batteries from a Dutch company, so I have a pretty good ‘news feed’ on what Dutch companies are doing in ag tech,” he said. Known as an ag innovator, the Netherlands has become the world’s second-largest food exporter behind the U.S. and is a pioneer in the use of ag robotics. “The Netherlands is like an R&D shop in ag innovation,” said Erickson. “But to scale up those innovations and turn them into large-scale manufacturing, you need a China or an America.”
Squeezing out waste in farm operations has been where AI and precision ag tools have had some of the greatest impact, Erickson said. “We’ve seen reductions in herbicide applications between 70% and 90% in some cases,” he said, because of precision farming tools.
Asked about the impacts of AI and robotics on farming in the longer term, Erickson says, “We really need a farm bill to pass soon.” He points out that several measures to promote and incentivize mechanization and precision ag with grants and loans are being considered in Congress and may be included in a farm bill. These include the SCMA (Specialty Crop Mechanization Act) and the PAL (Precision Agricultural Loan) Act.”
In the longer term, he said, the changes associated with AI and precision ag “may be like a forest fire that burns everything down so it can grow back more verdantly. The farming of the future will use smaller, smarter and less expensive equipment.”
Although there is currently much speculation about the possible dystopian uses of AI, “Its impacts in farming are positive. Here it will lead to lower costs and better yields. It’s already here, and it’s a necessity for farming’s future.”
David Murray can be reached at [email protected].