Wilbur-Ellis Company
Stated by the operator, not checked by us
Major ag products distributor (4000+ employees) that was exclusive partner for Guardian SC1. Deployed 4 drones in Salinas since Dec 2023. Status uncertain post-Guardian Aug 2025 shutdown.
Wilbur-Ellis Company is a California drone applicator covering drone pesticide and fungicide spraying and dry granular spreading on row crops grown in the region in the California region. From a Salinas (HQ San Francisco) base, the crew covers California growers inside the California region. Commercial drone applicators in California need FAA Part 137 plus an aerial category endorsement on a state pesticide applicator license issued by CDPR (CalEPA).
Operations are based in the California region.
Services offered
Crops serviced
Certifications & compliance
The operator told us each of these. Anything we matched against a public record is shown with the date we checked it, at the top of this page.
States served (1)
Aerial pesticide licensing in states served
Every state requires a pesticide applicator license with the aerial category endorsement on top of FAA Part 137. The agencies that issue these licenses in Wilbur-Ellis Company's service area:
- California — requires CDPR Unmanned Pest Control Aircraft Pilot Certificate for aerial pesticide application; the licensing authority is CDPR (CalEPA).
Full agency, exam and renewal-cycle details by state are catalogued on the state pesticide licensing reference.
Verify and resources
Primary-source references for verifying credentials and looking up state-specific rules in Wilbur-Ellis Company's service area.
Frequently asked questions
Verifying Wilbur-Ellis Company runs through three independent checks: Part 107 via the FAA Airmen Inquiry, Part 137 via the issuing FAA Flight Standards office, and the state aerial-category pesticide applicator license via the receiving state's department of agriculture. In California the state credential is issued by CDPR (CalEPA); you can ask the operator for the applicator license number and verify it with the agency directly. Pair that with a current chemical-drift COI and the Section 44807 exemption number for due diligence.
Typical drone spraying rates of $12 to $22 per acre in the region typically covers the application itself: drone calibration, GPS-guided mission planning, mixing and loading product into the tank, the labor and machine time to fly the field, and a written FIFRA Part 170 application record (date, time, product, EPA reg number, rate, weather, field ID). Pesticide product, surfactants and adjuvants are usually supplied by the farmer and excluded from the per-acre rate. Common surcharges include long travel past the operator's standard radius, after-hours or emergency turnaround, fields with steep terrain or significant obstructions, and minimum-acreage charges below a stated field size. Get inclusions and exclusions in writing before any application.