Drone Usage in Agriculture Could Be a $32 Billion Market

Agriculture could be one of the biggest drone markets.

You might be familiar with the idea of drones delivering consumer packages or monitoring security areas, but did you know that drones were first used commercially in Japan for agricultural purposes? In fact, agricultural efficiency is poised to take a big leap with drone technology now that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is streamlining regulations for unmanned aerial vehicles. A recent report from Opens a New Window PwC pegs the addressable market for agricultural drones to be worth a whopping $32.4 billion, second only to infrastructure.

That's a big number. And the interesting part is that PwC isn't the only one expecting drones to revolutionize agriculture.

1. Bank of America Merrill Lynch projects agriculture to make up almost 80% of the commercial drone market in the future, with the potential to generate $82 billion worth of economic activity in the U.S. between 2015 and 2025.
2. Goldman Sachs predicts the agriculture sector to be the largest user of drones in the U.S. and the second largest in the world in the next five years.
3. Research company Markets and Markets estimates the agricultural drone market to grow at a compounded average rate of 30% through 2022.