Ag Drone Spraying in Smith County, Texas for Pasture, Hay and Orchards

Ag drone spraying prices in Smith County

Ag drone spraying in Smith County, TX is priced per acre for one pass, application only. Hay covers about 42,400 acres here, and pasture more than 111,000. Nursery stock, peaches, pecans and grapes add small, valuable blocks around Tyler. Farms are small: 63% are under 50 acres. The rates below fit that mix, from Lindale and Winona to Bullard, Arp and Troup.

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Pasture broadleaf weed control	from $11/acre	Spring and fall windows
Hay meadow weeds and armyworms	from $11/acre	Bermudagrass and bahia
Brush and fence line spot work	from $15/acre	Young trees, briars, draws
Nursery and rose field passes	from $16/acre	Label-dependent, small blocks
Peach, pecan and vineyard blocks	from $18/acre	Higher volume, slower passes

Product is billed separately, or the landowner supplies it. Texas drone rates run about $8–21 per acre for most crops, with $12 typical for 2026, and $18–35 for pecans. Our rates sit at or under those figures. The quote depends on water volume, field size, timber edges, homes and power lines, and travel distance. The minimum charge is $250 per visit.

Smith County farm numbers

Measure	Smith County, TX (2022 Census)
Farms / land in farms	2,495 farms / 251,235 acres
Average farm size	101 acres
Farms under 50 acres	63%
Market value of sales	$70.9M, up 32%
Nursery and greenhouse	$18.6M, 17th in Texas
Fruits, nuts and berries	$4.3M, 11th in Texas
Hay / pecans / peaches / nursery / grapes	42,375 / 804 / 685 / 589 / 334 acres
Pasture / woodland	111,013 / 57,842 acres
Cattle / horses	43,997 / 3,344 head

Sales split almost evenly between nursery stock, cattle and poultry, about $18 million each. Many owners hold small acreages around Tyler and want occasional weed work rather than a full spray program. Smith County lost about 15% of its farms between 2017 and 2022 as Tyler grew, and many of the places left are horse properties, hobby ranches and hay meadows next to new homes. That makes drift control as important as the price. A drone flies low, shuts off exactly at mapped boundaries, and treats a 20-acre meadow in well under an hour.

Ag drone spraying for Smith County pasture and hay

Bermudagrass and bahiagrass meadows face winter annual weeds in early spring, broadleaf weeds in late spring and fall armyworms in late summer. Dogfennel, ragweed and thistles take over thin spots. Smutgrass spreads in overgrazed bahia. Weeds are easiest to kill when they're small, and armyworms can strip a meadow in a few days after a cutting. A drone moves between small meadows by pickup and can be in a field the day the worms are found. Grazing and haying intervals depend on the product, and they go on every record.

The Rose City and nursery growers

By the 1940s, more than half of the nation's rose bushes were grown within ten miles of Tyler. Field production has since moved elsewhere, but the Tyler area still handles a large share of the roses sold in the country, and nursery stock is still Smith County's top farm product. The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden holds more than 38,000 rose bushes on 14 acres, and the Texas Rose Festival is held every October. For nursery and rose growers, a drone can treat small field blocks and container yards quickly, as long as the label allows aerial use. Operators map greenhouse vents, shade houses and display beds as no-spray zones.

Peaches, pecans and vineyards

• Peaches: about 685 acres. Brown rot near harvest and plum curculio after bloom drive most passes, in tight windows.
• Pecans: about 804 acres, mostly native and improved trees in creek bottoms. Tall trees limit drone coverage, so younger orchards and the orchard floor fit best.
• Grapes: about 334 acres of vineyards. Black rot and downy mildew thrive in East Texas humidity, and Pierce's disease limits which varieties grow here.

Many of these blocks are a few acres next to homes, where a drone works more precisely than an airblast sprayer. Pick-your-own peach and berry farms also welcome visitors in season, so operators time flights for early morning.

Brush, briars and timber edges

Woodland covers almost 58,000 acres of farmland. Sweetgum, yaupon, blackberry and young pines keep moving into pasture from the timber. A drone can spot-treat them along fence rows and draws without a tractor. Herbicides that kill brush can also damage timber and ornamentals nearby, so operators map pine stands, yards and gardens and keep strict buffers.

Lakes, creeks and Tyler airspace

Lake Tyler and Lake Tyler East supply Tyler's water, and Lake Palestine on the Neches River forms much of the county's western edge. The Sabine River runs along the north. Operators map lake shores, creeks and ponds as no-spray edges and use coarse droplets near water. Smith County is not on TDA's list of counties with regulated herbicide rules, but the label still sets drift limits. Tyler Pounds Regional Airport has a control tower, so fields west of Tyler need FAA authorization.

TDA licensing for drone applicators

For-hire drone applicators in Texas need a Texas Department of Agriculture commercial applicator license with the aerial category and a use category such as weed control or field crops. FAA requirements are Part 107, a Part 137 certificate, and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds.