Ag Drone Services in Grant County, WI for Corn, Beans and Alfalfa

Ag drone service rates in Grant County

Ag drone services in Grant County, WI are priced per acre, per pass, application only. Wisconsin drone rates run $11–22 per acre with $16 typical for 2026, southwest Wisconsin operators list from $10 to $16–25, and an eastern Wisconsin operator charges about $20 on average fields. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Corn fungicide	from $15/acre	Tar spot at VT–R1
Soybean fungicide and insecticide	from $15/acre	White mold, aphids
Alfalfa insecticide	from $15/acre	Weevil, potato leafhopper
Cover crop seeding	from $16/acre	Rye after silage or beans
Pasture and spot weed work	from $18/acre	Thistles, wild parsnip

Fields under 20 acres are billed as 20 acres. Steep, narrow contour strips take more flight time, which the quote shows up front. Product is billed separately.

Wisconsin's top county by farm sales

Grant County ranked first in Wisconsin for the value of agricultural products sold in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, at $656.2 million. It also ranked first for cattle and hogs, second for grain and eighth for milk.

Crop or livestock	2022
Corn for grain	133,321 acres
Soybeans	83,107 acres
Forage (hay and haylage)	82,901 acres
Corn silage	21,352 acres
Cattle	167,378 head
Hogs	104,263 head

The county has 2,264 farms, more than most Wisconsin counties, averaging 259 acres. Ag drone services in Grant County cover corn and soybeans, dairy alfalfa and the pasture that carries the county's beef herd.

Where Wisconsin tar spot started

Tar spot was first found in Wisconsin in 2016 and 2017 in Grant, Iowa, Green and Lafayette counties, and bad fields lost 30–40 bushels per acre. UW's 2026 guidance makes VT/R1 the key timing, with a window from R1 to about R3, using two modes of action. For soybeans, white mold fungicide works at R1–R3; R4 is risky and R5 showed no yield response.

Alfalfa weevil and potato leafhopper

Pest	When	UW guidance
Alfalfa weevil	From about 300 growing degree days	Treat at 40% of tips infested, if harvest is 7+ days away
Potato leafhopper, under 3 inches	2nd and 3rd cuttings	1 per 10 sweeps
Potato leafhopper, about 6 inches	2nd and 3rd cuttings	1 per 2 sweeps
Potato leafhopper, taller	2nd and 3rd cuttings	Several per sweep

Leafhopper damage on regrowth cuts yield and protein, and a quick pass protects the next cutting.

Driftless slopes and contour strips

Grant County lies in the Driftless Area, the part of Wisconsin the glaciers bypassed. Steep ridges, coulees and contour strips shape most farms.

Field condition	Ground sprayer	Spray drone
Narrow contour strips	Constant turns	Strip-by-strip mapping
Steep side slopes	Rollover risk	Follows terrain
Grassed waterways	Crossings, ruts	Flies over them
Tall corn at tassel	Crop damage	Flies above the canopy

Each strip can be sprayed on its own, so alfalfa and corn strips side by side get the right product.

A Grant County spray season

Window	Typical drone work
Mid-May to early June	Alfalfa weevil before first cutting
June	Post-emerge herbicide, pasture thistles
Late June to August	Potato leafhopper on 2nd and 3rd cuttings
Mid-July to early August	Corn fungicide at VT/R1, soybean fungicide at R1–R3
Late August to September	Rye into standing beans or after silage

Thin soils and groundwater

The Southwest Wisconsin Groundwater and Geology study sampled 840 wells in Grant, Iowa and Lafayette counties in 2018 and 2019. In November 2018, 42% were positive for coliform bacteria or had nitrate above 10 mg/L, linked to thin soils over fractured bedrock. Operators map sinkholes, wells and springs as no-spray zones and use targeted, low-volume passes.

Cover crops on steep ground

Bare slopes in the Driftless lose soil fast after silage or soybean harvest. Drones seed cereal rye into standing soybeans in late August and early September, or right after silage comes off, without driving on soft ground or across waterways.

Trout streams and neighbors

The Castle Rock Agricultural Enterprise Area covers more than 23,000 acres in the Blue River watershed, which holds class 1 and 2 trout streams. The Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers form the county's west and north edges. Wisconsin is a FieldWatch partner, so operators check DriftWatch and BeeCheck before every job and keep buffers from streams and homes.

Wisconsin licensing for drone application

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) requires a commercial base category such as Field and Vegetable Crops plus the aerial application category, an annual commercial applicator license and a Pesticide Business License. Product labels must allow aerial use. The FAA requires Part 107, Part 137 and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds, and flights near Platteville, Boscobel, Lancaster and Cassville airports need the right authorization.