Ag Drone Services in Fannin County, TX for Hay, Wheat and Corn

Ag drone service rates in Fannin County

Ag drone services in Fannin County, TX are priced per acre, application only. Texas drone rates for wheat, corn and soybeans run $8–21 per acre with $12 as the typical figure, and operators serving the Red River area list $11–30. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Wheat fungicide	from $11/acre	Leaf and stripe rust
Row-crop herbicide	from $12/acre	Corn, soybeans, sorghum
Insecticide	from $12/acre	Greenbugs, armyworms, stink bugs
Hay and pasture weed control	from $13/acre	Bermuda and native pasture
Brush spot treatment	from $16/acre	Honey locust, bois d'arc sprouts

Jobs under 30 acres are billed as 30 acres. Rates depend on acres per trip, trees and power lines, nearby homes and water, and the spray volume on the label. Product is billed separately or supplied by you.

How Fannin County uses its land

About half of Fannin County farmland is pasture and 39% is cropland, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Hay is the largest crop by far, and the county runs about 63,750 cattle.

Crop	2022 acres
Forage and hay	62,943
Wheat	27,358
Corn for grain	19,569
Soybeans	2,912

Cattle brought in about $46 million in 2022, and nursery and sod farms another $28 million, so ag drone services in Fannin County cover both grass and grain.

Bois d'Arc Lake and the Caddo National Grassland

Bois d'Arc Lake, dedicated in 2022, covers 16,641 acres and supplies drinking water through the North Texas Municipal Water District's plant in Leonard. It was the first major new reservoir built in Texas in about 30 years. Fields and pastures that drain to the lake or Bois d'Arc Creek get wider no-spray buffers, coarse droplets on downwind edges and products chosen for use near water.

The Caddo National Grassland's Bois d'Arc and Ladonia units, about 17,900 acres of federal land near Honey Grove and Ladonia, border private farms. Operators map the federal boundary and treat only the private side of the fence.

Wheat, corn and soybeans

• Wheat: leaf and stripe rust move north from Central Texas in spring; a flag-leaf fungicide in April protects grain fill. Greenbugs are treated in fall and late winter when counts warrant.
• Corn: southern rust can arrive in summer; fungicide near tassel protects yield on fields with good potential.
• Soybeans: stink bugs are treated in pod fill when scouting reaches threshold.

A drone keeps each pass on schedule when Blackland clay is too wet for a sprayer or the crop is too tall to drive through.

Hay meadows and pasture

With nearly 63,000 acres of hay, grass work fills much of the calendar. Fall armyworms move into bermuda after late-summer rains, and broadleaf weeds compete with first cuttings in spring. Honey locust and bois d'arc sprouts spread along fence lines and draws; a drone spot-treats them from mapped coordinates instead of broadcasting a whole pasture. Labels set haying and grazing intervals, so tell the operator your next cutting date and when cattle will be turned back in.

Palmer amaranth, Johnsongrass and field edges

Palmer amaranth and Johnsongrass are the toughest weeds in Fannin County corn, soybeans and sorghum. Herbicide-resistant pigweed has to be controlled while it is small, using a site of action different from the pre-emerge, and patches that escape grow fast in summer heat. Johnsongrass spreads from terraces, ditches and turnrows into the field.

• Early post passes on schedule, even when a wet spring keeps sprayers out.
• Spot treatment of mapped escapes and edge patches instead of re-spraying the whole field.
• Records of what was sprayed where, which helps plan next year's herbicide program.

Herbicide rules across the county line

Fannin County is not on the Texas Department of Agriculture's list of regulated-herbicide counties, but several neighbors are. In Hunt and Delta counties and part of Lamar County, aerial application of regulated herbicides such as 2,4-D, MCPA and dicamba is not allowed from April 15 to September 1, and Collin County is also listed. Farms near Honey Grove, Ladonia or Leonard that straddle a county line need those rules checked field by field before a herbicide pass.

Red River bottoms and Blackland clay

Field condition	Ground sprayer	Spray drone
Blackland clay after rain	Bogs down	No soil contact
Red River bottoms after a rise	Can't reach the field	Flies from the field edge
Hay meadows with trees and draws	Slow, many turns	Mapped route
Tall corn at tassel	Limited clearance	Flies above the canopy

Texas licensing for drone application

The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) licenses drone applicators. Commercial operators hold a TDA Commercial Applicator license with the Aerial Application category plus a use category such as Pasture and Rangeland. The FAA requires Part 107, Part 137 and, for drones of 55 pounds or more, a Section 44807 exemption. Texas is a FieldWatch partner state, and operators check DriftWatch and BeeCheck before each job.