The 5 November 2026 issue of Landbouwleven, a Belgian farming weekly, carried a report on an information and demo afternoon about innovation in sugar beet growing. Just before the start of the beet campaign, Iscal Sugar, the PCLT and several partners invited sugar beet growers to see new techniques in the field. Agri Drones was one of those partners, as a supplier of agricultural drones.
Seeding and spreading from the air
Bert Depraeter of Agri Drones showed what an agricultural drone can already do today for seeding and for spreading fertiliser. A drone such as the XAG P150 Max carries up to 80 kg of seed or fertiliser per flight and covers the field fully automatically.
A survey flight first
Bert also explained how a job starts. A survey flight maps the field along with everything the drone has to take into account: trees, power line pylons and the required distance from watercourses. A smaller drone can carry out that flight if preferred.
After about fifteen minutes of processing time, the drone can start seeding, for example. Site-specific weed control is different: it needs more processing time between the flight that detects the weeds and the flight that treats them.
Regulations on the move
Bert acknowledged that drone applications in Belgium still run into regulatory limits, but in his view change is clearly on its way. Whitewashing greenhouses and spreading fertiliser in spring are applications that are growing fast right now.
Anyone who wants to fly an agricultural drone needs a pilot licence, and we can help with that too. See our drone pilot training (in Dutch).
Fast refilling in the field
The article also mentioned Agri Drones' ground platform: a loading installation with a storage tank that refills the drone automatically and quickly, so it can take off again straight away for the next flight.
More innovation on the demo field
The report shows how broad innovation in sugar beet growing is today. Digital Hive and Pixelvision showed a robot dog and smart cameras on a beet loader. The Belgian beet research institute (KBIVB) presented a trial in which barley was sown by drone as an undersown crop in sugar beet, to draw aphids to the barley instead of the beet and so limit virus yellows. Machinery makers demonstrated equipment for minimum tillage and carbon farming.
Source: Landbouwleven, 5 November 2026, "Innovatie in de bietenteelt van morgen" (Innovation in tomorrow's sugar beet growing), text: Tim Decoster.
Our thanks to Iscal Sugar, the PCLT and all partners for a successful demo afternoon, and to Landbouwleven for the report.
Want to see what a drone can do on your fields?
Agri Drones, based in Tielt, is the official XAG dealer for the Benelux. We'll come to your own fields for a demo and support you during start-up. If you choose a P150 Max after the demo, we'll deduct the demo rental from the purchase price.