Ag Drone Spraying in Dunn County, WI for Corn, Beans and Alfalfa

What ag drone spraying costs in Dunn County

Ag drone spraying in Dunn County, WI is billed per acre, per pass, application only. Wisconsin drone rates for corn, soybeans and alfalfa run $11–22 per acre with $16 as the typical figure, and operators in west-central Wisconsin publish $16–18 per acre with job minimums up to $400. Our pricing:

Service	Typical rate
Post-emerge herbicide	from $14/acre
Alfalfa and soybean insecticide	from $14/acre
Corn and soybean fungicide	from $15/acre
Cover crop seeding into standing crops	from $15/acre
Frost seeding (clover, alfalfa)	from $15/acre

A $300 minimum applies to each visit, and neighbors on the same road can share one trip. Prices move with total acres, field shape, slope and the spray volume on the label. Product is billed separately or brought from your co-op.

Dunn County farms by the numbers

The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 1,209 farms in Dunn County, with $381 million in sales (17th in Wisconsin). Milk sales of about $165 million ranked 16th in the state, and the county carries nearly 68,000 cattle.

Crop	2022 acres
Corn for grain	96,715
Soybeans	75,593
Forage and hay	42,919
Corn silage	18,298

Dairy rotations mean a mix of jobs in one season: alfalfa insect control in June, corn and soybean fungicide in late July and August, and cover crops in September.

Agricultural drone spraying and the Red Cedar River lakes

Tainter Lake and Lake Menomin, on the Red Cedar River at Menomonie, have been listed as impaired since 1996 because of algae blooms fed by phosphorus. The EPA-approved Red Cedar River TMDL covers about 1,900 square miles of watershed and calls for roughly a 65% cut in phosphorus, with no-till, cover crops and nutrient management as the main practices.

Drones help Dunn County farms on both sides of that goal:

• Cover crops seeded earlier into standing corn and soybeans, so more ground is covered before fall rains.
• No soil disturbance during spraying on slopes that drain to the Red Cedar, Hay and Chippewa rivers.
• Precise edges with mapped buffers along streams, ditches and the lakeshore.

Cover crop and frost seeding by drone

Seeding job	When	What gets seeded
Into standing soybeans	Late August – September, at leaf yellowing	Cereal rye, oats, radish mixes
Into standing corn	Early September	Cereal rye
After corn silage	Within days of chopping	Rye or a forage mix
Frost seeding	March, on frozen ground	Red clover, alfalfa, grass mixes

Frost seeding uses freeze-thaw cycles to work seed into thin hay and pasture stands, and it is easier with a drone than with a spinner on soft spring ground.

Fungicide timing for tar spot and white mold

UW–Madison Extension's 2026 disease update rated tar spot risk high statewide and named a single pass at tassel as the most important corn fungicide timing, with protection useful through R3. For soybeans, white mold fungicide works from R1 to R3; R4 is risky and R5 gave no response. UW trials also found drone fungicide at 2 gallons per acre performed like a 15-gallon ground application on white mold. Wheat gets its fungicide at flowering for head blight.

Weed escapes and insects

Waterhemp in Wisconsin carries resistance to several herbicide groups, so post-emerge passes need to happen before plants reach 4 inches, using a different site of action than the pre-emerge. Drones can also spot-treat mapped escapes later in the season. In alfalfa, weevil is treated before first cutting and potato leafhopper on regrowth; in soybeans, aphids are treated only when scouting counts reach threshold.

Fields along the Red Cedar, Hay and Chippewa rivers

Field condition in Dunn County	Ground sprayer	Spray drone
Rolling hills in the south and west	Uneven boom height	Follows terrain
River bottoms after heavy rain	Ruts or waits	No ground contact
Small fields broken by woods	Many short passes	Mapped boundaries
Corn at tassel	Crop damage	Flies above the canopy

Farms around Boyceville, Colfax, Elk Mound, Knapp and Downsville all have some of these conditions, and many dairy farms have fields scattered across several miles.

Wisconsin licensing for drone application

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) requires commercial drone applicators to certify in a base category such as 1.1 Field and Vegetable Crops plus 9.9 Aerial Application, and to hold an annual commercial applicator license and a Pesticide Business License. Farmers spraying their own land need the private aerial category only for restricted-use products. Every product must be labeled for aerial use, and the FAA requires Part 107, Part 137 and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds.

What to send for a quote

1. Field location (FSA map, farm address or a map pin).
2. Crop and growth stage.
3. Target pest, weed or seeding goal.
4. Product, if you already have one picked.
5. Any buffers, wells, hives or neighbors to note.