Drone Spraying in Macon County, MO for Soybeans, Hay and Pasture

Drone spraying prices in Macon County

Drone spraying in Macon County, MO is billed per acre, per pass, application only. Operators listed for the county quote $10–22 per acre, Missouri crop rates run $11–19, and the state's typical drone rate is about $15.50. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Hay and pasture weeds	from $12/acre	Broadleaves, thistles
Soybean fungicide or insecticide	from $13/acre	R3 passes
Corn fungicide	from $13/acre	Tassel
Wheat fungicide	from $13/acre	Flag leaf
Cover crop seeding	from $14/acre	Seed billed separately

Fields under 20 acres are billed as 20 acres, and neighbors can share a trip. Product is billed separately. Quotes reflect field size, lakes and wetlands nearby, and the spray volume on the label.

Soybeans and hay

Macon County had 1,258 farms on 432,256 acres in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, up 8%, averaging 344 acres, with sales up 34% to $157.1 million, 70% from crops. Net cash farm income rose 61% to $61 million.

Crop or livestock	2022
Soybeans	101,939 acres
Hay and forage	51,073 acres
Corn for grain	33,448 acres
Wheat	2,182 acres
Cattle	44,945 head
Hogs	28,119 head

Hay and other crops ranked fifth in Missouri, and sheep and goats eighth. Crops ranked 23rd in Missouri, cattle 28th and hogs 23rd. About 40% of farms run 50–179 acres, and 101 top 1,000. Pasture covers about 117,000 acres and woodland about 55,000, so drone spraying in Macon County moves between soybean fields and hay ground.

No-till and cover crops

About 20% of farms use no-till and 9% plant cover crops. Drones fit both: no wheel tracks across no-till ground and cover crops seeded into standing soybeans and corn in late summer.

Long Branch Lake and the Atlanta tract

Long Branch Lake, a Corps of Engineers reservoir on the East Fork of the Little Chariton River finished in 1978, has about 24 miles of shoreline, and Long Branch State Park covers about 1,828 acres west of Macon. MDC's Long Branch Lake Management Lands, 4,809 acres including the 2,355-acre Atlanta tract, are managed with farming, timber harvest and prescribed fire, with marshes and oxbow lakes. The dam also holds about 98,000 acre-feet of flood storage. Operators map the lake, marshes and public land as no-spray zones.

Thomas Hill Reservoir

Thomas Hill Reservoir Conservation Area covers 9,431 acres, including a 4,950-acre lake, owned by Associated Electric Cooperative and leased to MDC. The lake cools the 1,135-megawatt Thomas Hill power plant, stays ice-free near the warm-water discharge and draws wintering bald eagles. Its plant units date to 1966, 1969 and 1982, and the area includes 2.2 miles of Middle Fork Little Chariton River frontage. Fields draining toward the reservoir get wider buffers.

Reclaimed coal ground

Bevier was platted on the railroad in 1858, coal was found nearby in 1860, and mining shaped the area for a century. Associated Electric's Bee Veer Mine ran from 1980 to 1993, and later bond releases cover 7,362 reclaimed acres of pasture, forest, wetland and pollinator habitat, much of it leased to neighboring farmers. The project won a national mine reclamation award in 2007. Reclaimed pastures need the same weed control as any other, and wetland pockets are mapped as no-spray zones.

Claypan soils

Much of northeast Missouri lies in the Central Claypan Areas, where soils such as the Mexico series carry a 40–60% clay layer within 7–18 inches of the surface and a perched water table from December to May. Wet claypan fields stay soft in spring, and a drone treats them without ruts.

Amish farms

An Amish settlement near Anabel dates to 1957. Small fields, gardens and horse pastures sit beside larger row-crop farms, and operators map them as no-spray zones.

Field conditions

Field condition	Ground sprayer	Spray drone
Wet claypan fields in spring	Ruts, compaction	No soil contact
Reclaimed pasture with wet pockets	Rough ground	Follows terrain
Soybeans at R3	Wheel-track losses	No crop contact
Hay fields near marshes	Drift concerns	Mapped buffers

A Macon County spray season

Window	Typical drone work
April to May	Pasture weeds, wheat fungicide
June	Hay weeds between cuttings, rescue herbicide
Late July to August	Soybean R3, corn fungicide
Late August to September	Cover crops into standing crops

Licensing and airspace

The Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) requires commercial drone applicators to hold Category 13, Aerial Pest Control. MU Extension in Macon trained and licensed 40 local producers for restricted-use pesticides in 2025. Drone or aircraft application needs Category 20 core plus a supplemental license, renewed every five years. The business holds an FAA Part 137 certificate with Part 107 pilots. Macon-Fower Memorial Airport sits a mile southeast of Macon with a 4,150-foot runway, so crews check airspace for fields nearby. Founded in 1837 and named for Nathaniel Macon, the county covers 812 square miles and had 15,209 residents in 2020, with US 36 and US 63 crossing at Macon.