Ag Drone Services in Green County, KY for Corn, Soybeans and Pasture

Ag drone service rates in Green County

Ag drone services in Green County, KY are priced per acre, per pass, application only. Kentucky drone rates run $14–19 per acre statewide, and operators serving the county quote $13–30. The University of Kentucky's 2024 custom rates survey puts aerial application at an average of $11.50 per acre, and UK estimates custom drone work at $150–200 per hour per drone. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Corn and soybean fungicide	from $14/acre	VT/R1 corn, R3 beans
Soybean insecticide	from $14/acre	Stink bugs
Liquid fertilizer and foliar feed	from $14/acre	In-season nutrition
Pasture herbicide	from $15/acre	Poison hemlock, thistles
Cover crop seeding	from $16/acre	Rye after corn or silage

Each visit has a $275 minimum. Product is billed separately. Quotes reflect field size, tree lines, nearby tobacco and homes and the spray volume on the label.

Grain, cattle, poultry and burley

Crops made up 65% of Green County's $78.8 million in farm sales in the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Grain led at $38.7 million, followed by cattle, poultry, tobacco at $8.2 million and milk.

Crop or livestock	2022
Forage (hay and haylage)	22,427 acres
Soybeans	20,865 acres
Corn for grain	17,238 acres
Corn silage	2,257 acres
Tobacco	1,917 acres
Cattle	25,891 head

Most of the county's 902 farms are mid-size, with 45% between 50 and 179 acres. Ag drone services in Green County cover corn and soybeans on the bottoms and uplands, plus pasture and hay on the hills.

Green County was part of UK's first drone fungicide trial

In 2019, University of Kentucky researchers ran on-farm drone fungicide trials in Green, Adair and Taylor counties, with the Green County Extension agent recruiting growers. Each site had 10 acres split into sprayed and unsprayed strips, with drone fungicide at R1.

• Taylor County: continuous corn with heavy gray leaf spot gained 22.8 bushels per acre, well above the 6–12 bushel break-even.
• Green and Adair counties: disease stayed low that season, and yield differences weren't significant.

The lesson for Green County growers: fungicide pays when disease is present, so scouting decides the call. In neighboring Taylor County, drones now treat about 4,000 of roughly 13,500 corn acres.

Corn and soybean fungicide timing

UK rated gray leaf spot risk high statewide in 2025. A single pass at VT/R1 gives corn the best return, and southern rust, which usually arrives in mid-July, may need protection through R3. In soybeans, fungicide and stink bug passes are timed at R3. UK's 2024 Princeton trial found drones viable for corn fungicide, with coverage depending on flight speed and wind, so operators set speed and swath for each field.

Poison hemlock and pasture weeds

UK recommends spraying poison hemlock at the rosette stage in early spring with 2,4-D products, and mowing before it flowers if that window is missed. Hemlock is toxic to cattle, so pastures are cleared before animals go back out. Thistles and buttercup are treated in the same late-winter and early-spring window. Fall armyworms move into Green County hayfields from mid-August until frost and are treated when counts reach threshold.

Burley tobacco and neighbors

Green County still grows about 1,900 acres of tobacco, and tobacco is highly sensitive to growth-regulator herbicides like 2,4-D and dicamba. Operators map tobacco patches, gardens, homes and poultry houses as no-spray zones and use coarse droplets on downwind edges. Kentucky isn't part of FieldWatch, so operators ask about neighboring tobacco, hives and sensitive crops before every job.

The Green River and karst

Field condition	Ground sprayer	Spray drone
Green River bottoms after rain	Ruts	No soil contact
Sinkholes in upland fields	Hazard for equipment	Mapped no-spray zones
Small fields between tree lines	Missed corners	Mapped edges
Corn at tassel	Crop damage	Flies above the canopy

The Green River crosses the county from east to west, and Goose Creek and Little Barren River drain the uplands. Sinkholes, springs and wells are mapped before the first flight, and the historic Cumberland Trace road corridor and homes along it get extra buffers.

A Green County spray year

Window	Typical drone work
Late February to April	Poison hemlock, buttercup, thistles
May to June	Row-crop herbicide, pasture broadleaves
Mid-July	Corn fungicide at VT/R1
August	Soybean fungicide and stink bugs
Mid-August to frost	Fall armyworm in hay
September to October	Cover crop seeding

Kentucky licensing for drone application

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) requires Category 11 (Aerial) for any drone pesticide application, including general-use products, paired with a site category such as 1A Agricultural Plant. Kentucky's private applicator program does not cover aerial work. Certification renews every three years with 12 hours of continuing education. The FAA requires Part 107, Part 137 and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds. Taylor County Airport in Campbellsville is the nearest public airport.