Scattering seeds definitely has a high cost. Just scattering from 1000 feet and hoping for the best has been reviewed again and again since the 70's. Its too expensive due to losses from seeds that landed on rocks and in creeks.

Where this technology advances is in using drones to fly to pre-selected coordinates where seeds will survive and fire a seed into the ground (such as next to a stump). Called micro-sites, the combination of drones and new lightweight sensors have made this possible only in the last few years.

While we love tree planters working with shovels, we see huge potential in lowering the cost of replanting trees with technology. Imported work gangs with shovels dont do a lot to reduce labor costs. This has big impacts for replanting and reducing the carbon load thats been put in the atmosphere already.

Im happy to answer questions and will check back here or email us on our site. We're always looking for developers and people interested in the data science that micro-siting requires.

Grant, CEO DroneSeed