This episode featured as part of the Agritech segment in partnership with Sensehub Dairy by MSD.

New Zealand is the only developed nation without a licensing system for commercial UAV operations, says Dr Isaac Henderson, vice president of the Aviation Industry Association of New Zealand.

Henderson says a licensing system with chemical and agricultural ratings would give farmers a proportionate alternative to full certification for large agricultural spray drones.

“They’re not toys, and they’re certainly not low risk,” he says of aircraft reaching 150kg maximum takeoff weight.

“We can solve it through training, competency and assessment, but we need willingness from the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority to actually implement a licensing system.”

This episode featured as part of the Agritech segment in partnership with Sensehub Dairy by MSD. Leading agritech innovation with SenseHub® Dairy — the modular, end‑to‑end dairy system combining animal behaviour monitoring, milk intelligence and automation in one connected platform, backed by MSD Animal Health. For more information visit www.sensehub.co.nz

CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.