In 2022, small unmanned aerial vehicles (‘drones’) were identified as a potential replacement for farm vehicles for some tasks on the farm. A literature review at the time did not find any robust evidence that drones caused farmers to use their vehicles less. To address this gap, Ride the Sky was established as a pilot to test if providing drones to farmers would reduce their use of farm vehicles.

The pilot involved providing farmers with a DJI Mavic drone and training. The pilot was structured to allow measurement of how much drones changed farmers’ quad bike use. Data on farmers’ use of farm vehicles were collected using a GPS tracker attached to their farm vehicle(s) for one year before farmers were provided the drone and one year after. The GPS data was supplemented with interviews conducted with farmers approximately three months after they were given the drones.

The final data for Ride the Sky was received in December 2025. Of the 15 farms who participated in the pilot, only 11 had usable pre- and post-data on farm vehicle usage for analysis.

Analysis of the GPS data collected for Ride the Sky has found no statistically significant change in either time of use or distance driven from the drones. Therefore, combined GPS data does not allow a statement on what impact a nationwide campaign to promote drones might have on farm vehicle usage. When viewed on a farm-by-farm basis, the results were mixed with most showing no decrease in quad bike usage but some showing a decrease in driving distance.

In interviews farmers reported finding the drones useful but limited by line of sight in hill country or adverse weather. Some of the tasks farmers used drones for included checking fencelines for damage, checking water tank levels, replacing driving around during lambing beats and moving stock between paddocks.

The mixed results and the results of the semi-structured interviews suggests that drones may be more suitable as a substitute for farm vehicles on some farms but not on others. A larger more detailed study would be required to identify which farms drones are a suitable intervention to reduce farm vehicle usage and which ones are not.

Despite these results, Ride the Sky has demonstrated the feasibility of piloting engineering interventions, such as drones on New Zealand farms, and provides a model for potential intervention pilots going forward. It also demonstrates that pilots need to be sufficiently large enough to demonstrate intervention efficacy.

Read the report