Ag Drone Spraying in Franklin County, KS for Soybeans and Pasture

Ag drone spraying rates in Franklin County

Ag drone spraying in Franklin County, KS is billed per acre, per pass, application only. The 2026 Kansas Custom Rates report from K-State and the Kansas Department of Agriculture put aerial herbicide work in East Central Kansas at $12.31 per acre and aerial insecticide or fungicide at $12.54. Drone operators near Ottawa charge $12–18, one with a 40-acre minimum. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Post-emerge herbicide	from $12/acre	Soybeans, corn
Soybean and corn fungicide	from $12/acre	Frogeye, gray leaf spot
Insecticide	from $12/acre	Stink bugs, armyworms
Pasture and sericea lespedeza	from $14/acre	Higher spray volume
Brush spot treatment	from $16/acre	Redcedar, honey locust

Each visit has a $250 minimum, well under the 40-acre minimums some operators set. Small fields and neighbors on the same road can share a visit.

Soybeans and grass in Franklin County

Franklin County's 835 farms sold about $126 million in 2022, split close to evenly between crops and livestock. Cropland covers about 60% of farmland and pasture 29%, and the county carries about 46,700 cattle.

Crop	2022 acres
Soybeans	71,205
Forage and hay	33,510
Corn for grain	29,717
Wheat	6,059

Most farms are small: 69% are under 180 acres. Ag drone spraying in Franklin County covers both soybean fields and the brome and fescue pastures that feed the county's cattle.

Marais des Cygnes bottoms and Osage Cuestas uplands

The Marais des Cygnes and Pottawatomie rivers cut alluvial bottoms through the county, while the uplands belong to the Osage Cuestas, low ridges of shale and limestone. Bottom ground floods and stays wet; upland soils drain slowly after rain.

Field condition	Ground sprayer	Spray drone
River bottoms after a rise	Can't reach the field	Flies from the field edge
Slow-draining upland soil	Ruts	No soil contact
Soybeans at R3	Wheel-track losses	No crop damage
Pastures broken by tree lines	Missed corners	Mapped edges

Franklin County's noxious weeds

Franklin County declares field bindweed, Johnsongrass, musk thistle and sericea lespedeza as noxious, and the county sells herbicide for noxious weed control on Franklin County land. Sericea lespedeza is the biggest pasture problem:

1. June to early July: treat while sericea is vegetative, with triclopyr-based products.
2. Late summer bloom: switch to metsulfuron-based products.
3. Carrier volume: at least 3 gallons per acre, with 5 giving better coverage on dense stands.

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

Brush and armyworms in fescue and brome

Eastern Kansas pastures fill in with eastern redcedar, honey locust, rough-leaf dogwood and buckbrush when they aren't managed. Drones spot-treat individual trees and patches from mapped coordinates, which saves product compared with broadcasting a whole pasture. Fall armyworms move into brome, fescue and new alfalfa after late-summer rains and are treated when counts reach threshold.

Soybean and corn disease

Frogeye leaf spot is the main soybean fungicide target, applied at R3, and Dectes stem borer and stink bugs are scouted through pod fill. In corn, gray leaf spot and southern rust are the usual late-season concerns, and K-State confirmed tar spot in Kansas corn in 2025 and urged early scouting. Drones keep fungicide passes on time when the ground is too wet or the corn too tall for a ground rig.

Spray windows around Ottawa

Window	Typical drone work
March to April	Musk thistle rosettes, brome pasture weed control
May to June	Post-emerge herbicide in corn and soybeans
June to early July	Sericea lespedeza in the vegetative stage
July to August	Corn fungicide at tassel, soybean fungicide at R3, stink bugs
August to September	Fall armyworm in brome, fescue and new alfalfa; late sericea with metsulfuron
September to October	Cover crops flown into standing soybeans

Double-crop soybeans planted after wheat in late June reach R3 in late August, so fungicide work in Franklin County runs later than in single-crop fields.

Lakes, ponds and neighbors

Pomona Lake sits just west of the county line, Hillsdale Lake to the east, and Franklin County has hundreds of farm ponds that water cattle. Homes are spreading along US-59 and I-35 near Ottawa and Wellsville. Operators map ponds, creeks, homes and gardens as no-spray zones, keep coarse droplets on downwind edges and check DriftWatch and BeeCheck before every job.

Kansas rules for drone application

The Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) has allowed drone pesticide application since July 2022 and revised its policy in April 2025. A business must receive KDA approval before making drone applications, and only certified commercial applicators may fly; registered technicians may not. In 2026 the FAA also announced stepped-up enforcement against unauthorized drone spraying, so ask any operator for their KDA approval, Part 107 and Part 137 certificates before booking. Drones over 55 pounds also need a Section 44807 exemption. Kansas is a DriftWatch partner state.