Drone Spraying in Dickinson County, KS for Wheat, Soybeans and Grass

Drone spraying rates in Dickinson County

Drone spraying in Dickinson County, KS is billed per acre for each pass, application only. Drone listings around the county run $9–17 per acre, and $12.50 is the typical Kansas rate for 2026. Our operators start below that:

Service	Typical rate
Wheat fungicide (stripe and leaf rust)	from $11/acre
Soybean fungicide or insecticide	from $11/acre
Post-emerge herbicide	from $11/acre
Cover crop seeding	from $13/acre
Pasture and sericea lespedeza control	from $13/acre

Jobs under 30 acres are billed as 30 acres. Pasture work costs more because sericea and brush need 3–5 gallons per acre instead of the usual 2–3. Product is billed separately, or you can supply your own from the co-op.

How drone spraying compares with a plane or ground rig

The 2024 Kansas Custom Rates report from K-State and the Kansas Department of Agriculture put airplane herbicide application at an average of $8.50 per acre ($6.50–15) and ground rig herbicide at $7.41. A drone costs a few dollars more per acre, and here is what that buys:

Situation	Ground rig	Ag airplane	Spray drone
Wheat at heading, wet soil	Ruts and tramples	Good	Good, no ruts
20–80 acre fields along creeks	Fine when dry	Minimums and ferry time	Efficient
Fields beside homes, shelterbelts	Fine	Drift risk	Low height, tight swath
Terraced upland and draws	Slow	Fine	Follows terrain

Soybean and wheat spray windows in Dickinson County

Soybeans and wheat cover most Dickinson County cropland: 112,899 acres of soybeans and 97,403 acres of wheat in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, followed by 27,345 acres of grain sorghum and 18,865 acres of corn.

Crop	Main targets	Window
Winter wheat	Stripe rust, leaf rust	Flag leaf to heading, late April – May
Soybeans	Frogeye leaf spot, Dectes stem borer, stink bugs	R3, July – August
Grain sorghum	Sugarcane aphid, headworms	Scouting-based, July – August
Corn	Southern rust, gray leaf spot	Tassel to early grain fill

K-State wheat specialists track rust movement up from Oklahoma and Texas each spring, and in rust years the flag leaf is what protects yield. When rain keeps rigs out of the field during that window, drones keep the timing.

Smoky Hill River valley and upland fields

The Smoky Hill River runs east through the middle of the county in a wide valley, fed by Mud Creek at Abilene, Turkey Creek, Chapman Creek and Lyon Creek in the east. Grass-covered sand dunes lie between Abilene and Solomon, and the county sits where the Flint Hills meet the Smoky Hills, so cropland breaks into terraces, draws and pasture.

• Valley bottoms stay wet after spring storms, when wheat fungicide timing matters most.
• Terraced uplands slow down ground rigs and leave skips on the terrace channels.
• Creek-side fields often border trees, homes and county roads that need careful edges.

Cover crops and double-crop work after wheat

Wheat comes off in late June and early July in Dickinson County, which leaves a long window for a cover crop or a double-crop pass. Drones handle both:

• Cover crop seeding of cereal rye, oats, radish or a forage mix onto wheat stubble, or into standing soybeans in late August, so the cover gets established before fall.
• Burndown on stubble to control volunteer wheat and kochia, which also helps break the green bridge for wheat streak mosaic before fall planting.
• Double-crop soybean protection in August, when the canopy is closed and the ground is too soft or too far from the yard for a sprayer.

Sericea lespedeza and noxious weeds in pastures

Sericea lespedeza has been a Kansas noxious weed since 2000 and infests about 450,000 acres statewide. The Dickinson County noxious weed department also lists field bindweed, johnsongrass and musk thistle, and it cost-shares herbicide for listed weeds.

1. June to early July (vegetative stage): triclopyr-based products.
2. Late summer bloom: metsulfuron-based products.
3. Aerial rate: at least 3 gallons per acre; 5 gallons gives better coverage on dense stands.
4. Burn timing: April burns stimulate sericea germination, while August–September burns cut seed production, so herbicide passes should be planned around the burn schedule.

Musk thistle is best treated at the rosette stage in fall or early spring, before it bolts.

Kansas rules for drone pesticide application

The Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) Pesticide and Fertilizer Program has allowed drone applications since July 2022 and revised its policy in April 2025. A pesticide business must receive KDA approval before making drone applications, and only certified commercial applicators may fly. Registered technicians and uncertified staff cannot. Drone work is allowed in specific commercial categories, including agricultural plant pest control and right-of-way.

Operators also need FAA Part 107, a Part 137 agricultural aircraft operator certificate and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds.

Sensitive crops and neighbors

Kansas is a FieldWatch partner state, and KDA runs its Sensitive Crops Registry through DriftWatch. Vineyards, vegetable growers and organic farms around Abilene and Chapman can register their fields, and operators check the registry before each job. Shelterbelts, farmsteads and the Smoky Hill riverbanks get mapped buffers, and crews adjust droplet size and wind limits on downwind edges.