Drone Spraying in Lyon County, IA for Corn, Soybeans and Silage

Drone spraying prices in Lyon County

Drone spraying in Lyon County, IA is billed per acre, per pass, application only. Iowa drone rates run about $8–18 per acre, with $12.50 typical in 2026, and operators listed near the county quote from $10–12. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Corn fungicide	from $11/acre	Grain and silage corn
Soybean fungicide or insecticide	from $11/acre	R3 passes, edge work
Rescue herbicide	from $12/acre	Where labeled for aerial use
Cover crop seeding	from $12/acre	Seed billed separately

Each visit has a $250 minimum. Product is billed separately. Quotes reflect acres per trip, feedlots and barns nearby, river buffers and the spray volume on the label.

Second in Iowa for farm sales

Lyon County had 1,015 farms on 315,316 acres in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, averaging 311 acres, with sales of $1.26 billion, second in Iowa and 32nd in the nation. Livestock brought in 79%.

Crop or livestock	2022
Corn for grain	142,164 acres
Soybeans	101,074 acres
Corn for silage	21,421 acres
Hay and haylage	8,843 acres
Hogs	966,636 head
Cattle and calves	176,388 head

The county ranked third in Iowa and fifth in the U.S. for hogs, and second in Iowa for cattle. Silage and hay feed those herds, so drone spraying in Lyon County protects feed as well as cash grain.

Spraying around barns and feedlots

With nearly a million hogs and more than 176,000 cattle, fields here sit next to finishing barns, lagoons and feedlots. Operators map barns, fans, lagoons and pens as no-spray zones, follow biosecurity rules on entry and fly only with wind blowing away from livestock.

Soybean gall midge at field edges

Lyon was among the first 12 Iowa counties where ISU confirmed soybean gall midge in 2018. Damage is worst along field edges, and seed treatments haven't controlled it. Edge passes on soybeans next to grass and the previous year's fields target the worst of it without a full-field application.

Cover crop cost-share in 2026

Iowa's 2026 cover crop cost-share pays $30 an acre for first-time users and $20 for returning users, up to 160 acres, with $10 more for first-timers using no-till or strip-till and $3 for a nitrogen inhibitor. Applications go through county soil and water offices. Drones seed rye into standing corn and soybeans in late summer, ahead of harvest and silage chopping.

Big Sioux and Rock rivers

The Big Sioux River forms the county's western line with South Dakota, and the Rock River and Little Rock Creek cross the county. A stretch of the Big Sioux from the Rock River confluence downstream is listed as impaired for E. coli and, since 2024, pH. The Lake Pahoja, Nelson-Lee and Kroger tracts protect timber and prairie along the river. Operators map rivers, creeks and public land as no-spray zones.

Gitchie Manitou and Blood Run

Gitchie Manitou State Preserve, 91 acres dedicated in 1969, exposes pink Sioux quartzite about 1.6 billion years old, the oldest bedrock at the surface in Iowa, with more than 130 prairie species. Nearby, Blood Run National Historic Landmark, Iowa's largest, preserves an Oneota site that once covered about 1,250 acres, with about 80 of more than 275 recorded mounds remaining. Both are sacred or protected ground and mapped as no-spray zones.

Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota

Lyon County borders Minnesota and South Dakota. In South Dakota, commercial drone applicators need core, aerial and crop categories through the state's natural resources department, and private applicators need an aerial endorsement with an in-person exam. Crews confirm the state for every field and hold the right license before flying across a line. Larchwood sits about 21 miles from Sioux Falls Regional Airport, so airspace is checked for fields near the state line.

Field conditions

Field condition	Ground sprayer	Spray drone
Wet ground after rain	Ruts, compaction	No soil contact
Corn at tassel	Crop damage	Flies above the canopy
Fields beside barns and lagoons	Drift concerns	Mapped buffers
Soybean field edges	Full-field pass	Targeted edge passes

A Lyon County spray season

Window	Typical drone work
June	Rescue herbicide in corn and soybeans
July	Gall midge edge passes in soybeans
Late July to August	Corn fungicide, soybean R3
Late August to September	Cover crops ahead of harvest and silage

Iowa licensing

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) certifies drone applicators under the aerial category with a commercial license, and the business holds an FAA Part 137 certificate with Part 107 pilots. The county covers 588 square miles and had 11,934 residents in 2020, about 2,600 of them in Rock Rapids, with George, Inwood and Larchwood near 1,000 each and Doon about 600. First named Buncombe County, it took the name Lyon in 1862. About 30% of farms run 180–499 acres, the most common size here.