Ag Drone Spraying in Graves County, KY for Corn, Soybeans and Wheat

Ag drone spraying prices in Graves County

Ag drone spraying in Graves County, KY is priced per acre, per pass, application only. Kentucky drone rates run $9–16 per acre with about $12 typical, and nearby operators quote $10–20. The University of Kentucky's custom rates survey puts aerial application at $9.50–14.50 per acre, averaging $11.50. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Corn fungicide	from $12/acre	VT/R1
Soybean fungicide and insecticide	from $12/acre	R3, stink bugs
Wheat fungicide	from $12/acre	Head scab at Feekes 10.5.1
Herbicide and burndown	from $13/acre	Rescue passes
Cover crop seeding	from $14/acre	Rye and wheat covers

Each visit has a $250 minimum. Product is billed separately. Quotes reflect acres per trip, tree lines, nearby poultry houses and homes and the spray volume on the label.

Kentucky's top county by farm sales

Graves County ranked first in Kentucky for farm sales in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, at $473.8 million, and first for poultry and eggs. It also ranked fifth in the state for tobacco.

Crop or livestock	2022
Soybeans	97,696 acres
Corn	61,862 acres
Wheat	22,315 acres
Hay	10,429 acres
Tobacco	1,158 acres
Broilers	10.26 million

Much of the county's wheat is followed by double-crop soybeans, so ag drone spraying in Graves County runs from wheat scab in May through soybean stink bugs in September.

Corn: gray leaf spot, southern rust and tar spot

UK Extension rates gray leaf spot risk high across Kentucky. Southern rust usually arrives in mid-July, and tar spot has been confirmed in Kentucky since 2021. UK's guidance is that a single fungicide pass at VT/R1 gives the best return, with protection through R3 when southern rust pressure is high.

What UK's drone trials show

• 2019, Taylor County: a drone-applied fungicide on a field with heavy gray leaf spot gained 22.8 bushels per acre, well above the 6–12 bushel break-even.
• 2024–25, UK Research and Education Center at Princeton: drone and ground fungicide passes gave similar disease control and yield under low disease pressure, and drones put more solution on the leaves. Spray patterns shifted at very low wind, which is why operators set flight paths for the day's conditions.

Wheat head scab at flowering

UK recommends fungicide for head scab at Feekes 10.5.1, early flowering, with some benefit for a few days after. Use the scab risk tool before deciding, choose triazole or triazole-mix products, and avoid strobilurins, which can raise DON in grain. Wheat at flowering is easy to damage with a ground rig, and a drone leaves no wheel tracks.

Stink bugs in double-crop soybeans

UK thresholds for green, brown and brown marmorated stink bugs run about 2–4 per 10 sweeps from R3 to R6. Double-crop soybeans planted after wheat reach pod fill later, so they need the closest watching in September. A drone can treat a field the day it hits threshold, without running down rows.

Palmer amaranth and waterhemp

Glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth has been confirmed in 56 Kentucky counties and waterhemp in 34, with some populations also resistant to PPO or ALS herbicides. Western Kentucky was the first problem area. Layered residuals are the base program, and drones help with rescue passes when rain keeps ground rigs out.

Loess fields, creek bottoms and tree lines

Field condition	Ground sprayer	Spray drone
Silty loess after rain	Ruts, compaction	No soil contact
Creek bottoms along Mayfield Creek and Clarks River	Wet into June	Flies from the field edge
Wheat at flowering	Wheel-track losses	No crop contact
Small fields between tree lines	Missed corners	Mapped edges

A Graves County spray year

Window	Typical drone work
March–April	Burndown, wheat weed control
May	Wheat fungicide at early flowering
June	Post-emerge herbicide in corn and soybeans
Mid-July	Corn fungicide at VT/R1
August	Soybean fungicide at R3
September	Stink bugs in double-crop beans
October	Cover crop seeding

Poultry houses, tobacco and neighbors

Broiler houses, dark tobacco barns and homes sit next to crop fields across the county. Tobacco is highly sensitive to growth-regulator herbicides, and poultry houses pull in outside air through large fans. Operators map houses, tobacco patches, gardens and Mayfield Creek and Obion Creek as no-spray zones and keep coarse droplets on downwind edges. Kentucky isn't part of FieldWatch, so operators ask about neighboring hives and sensitive crops before every job; fields near the Tennessee line may border FieldWatch-registered sites.

Kentucky licensing for drone application

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) requires Category 11 (Aerial) for any drone pesticide application, including general-use products, paired with a category such as 1A Agricultural Plant. Kentucky's farmer exemption for general-use products covers ground equipment only, so farmers flying their own drones need private certification plus non-commercial Category 11. Certification renews every three years. The FAA requires Part 107, Part 137 and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds.