Ag Drone Services in Todd County, Minnesota

Ag drone service rates in Todd County

Ag drone services in Todd County, MN are billed per acre, application only. You buy the product through your co-op or agronomist, and an MDA-licensed operator applies it at label rate, usually at 2–3 gallons per acre.

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Corn fungicide & insecticide	from $13/acre	tar spot, northern corn leaf blight
Soybean fungicide & aphid control	from $13/acre	white mold, soybean aphid
Herbicide passes	from $12/acre	broadcast or spot
Alfalfa & hay	from $13/acre	potato leafhopper, weevil
Cover crop seeding	from $12/acre	into standing corn, silage stubble

Operators serving central Minnesota publish drone spraying from $15 per acre and cover crop seeding from $12, and Iowa State's custom rate survey puts the regional average near $12.50. Our starting rates sit between those figures. Price depends on acres per trip, carrier volume, field shape, obstacles such as tree lines, farmsteads and power lines, and travel from Long Prairie. Fields under 20 acres are usually billed at a 20-acre minimum.

Corn, soybeans and forage for dairy

Todd County sits in the heart of central Minnesota's dairy belt. In the USDA 2022 Census, corn for grain led at about 58,000 acres, soybeans at about 46,500 and hay and haylage at about 45,700, with corn silage and dry edible beans also grown. Many farms here combine crops with dairy and beef cattle, and the county also has several Amish communities with small diversified farms.

Crop	Main drone jobs	Typical timing
Corn	Tar spot and northern corn leaf blight fungicide	VT–R2, late July–August
Soybeans	White mold fungicide; soybean aphid	R1–R3, July–August
Alfalfa & hay	Potato leafhopper; alfalfa weevil	June–August
Corn silage ground	Cover crop seeding	Late August–September
Dry beans	White mold fungicide	Bloom, July

Forage quality on dairy farms

Potato leafhopper can cut alfalfa yield and protein quickly in summer, especially in new seedings. Drones can treat between cuttings with no wheel traffic on regrowth, and the operator works around the label's pre-harvest interval so the next cutting stays on schedule.

Cover crops after silage

Corn silage removes nearly all residue, which leaves soil bare through winter. Seeding winter rye by drone into standing corn in late August or right after silage harvest gets cover established before freeze-up. Rye can also be grazed or chopped as forage in spring, which fits dairy rotations.

Lakes, rolling hills and sandy ground

Todd County is rolling ground dotted with lakes, including parts of Lake Osakis and Sauk Lake, and the Long Prairie River runs through the middle of the county to the Crow Wing River. Sandy soils in the north, around Staples and Hewitt, are often irrigated.

• Shoreline and stream buffers are mapped and held precisely, as labels require.
• Small, irregular fields between lakes, wetlands and woods are covered without turning a sprayer.
• Wet spots after heavy rain are treated without ruts.
• Center pivots on irrigated sand are flown with the pivot parked out of the path.

Spray calendar for Todd County

Months	Typical jobs
May–June	Burndown and post-emergence herbicide; alfalfa weevil checks
June–July	Potato leafhopper in alfalfa; post-emergence herbicide
Late July–August	Corn fungicide at tassel; soybean and dry bean fungicide; aphids
Late August–September	Cover crop seeding into standing corn and after silage

Central Minnesota's season is short, and the corn and soybean fungicide windows overlap in early August. Booking a week ahead helps keep each field on time.

Dry edible beans and specialty acres

Dry edible beans are a smaller but valuable crop in Todd County and nearby counties. White mold is the main threat in wet, cool summers, and fungicide timing at early bloom matters more than anything else. Beans have a low, dense canopy that ground rigs can damage late in the season, so a drone pass at bloom avoids crushed rows. Operators check each product for dry bean and aerial use on the label, and they keep buffers from nearby gardens and Amish produce farms in the Todd County area.

Why Todd County farmers use drones

• No wheel tracks in tall corn and closed soybean rows late in the season.
• Timely passes after rain, when ground rigs can't get in.
• Quick turnaround when planes are booked across the region.
• Small fields cost the same per acre as large ones.

Minnesota licensing for drone spraying

Two state agencies regulate drone spraying in Minnesota:

1. Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA): commercial applicators need certification in the aerial pest control category (Category B) plus any other category the work requires. Commercial applicators recertify every year.
2. Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Office of Aeronautics: commercial drone operators need a Commercial Operations License, with aircraft registration and proof of financial responsibility.

Federal rules require an FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate, a Part 137 agricultural aircraft operator certificate and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds. If a label prohibits aerial application, the product cannot be applied by drone.

How booking works

1. Send the field location, crop, acres and target.
2. We match you with an MDA-licensed, MnDOT-licensed and FAA Part 137-certified operator working in Todd County.
3. You approve the per-acre quote and spray window.
4. The operator maps the field, applies and sends you the application record.

Communities we cover

Long Prairie, Staples, Browerville, Eagle Bend, Clarissa, Grey Eagle, Swanville, Bertha, Hewitt, Burtrum, West Union and Osakis, plus farms along the Stearns, Morrison, Douglas, Otter Tail, Wadena and Cass county lines.