Drone Spraying in Lincoln County, NE for Corn, Alfalfa and Rangeland

Drone spraying prices in Lincoln County

Drone spraying in Lincoln County, NE is billed per acre, per pass, application only. Operators listed for the county quote $9–18 per acre, Nebraska typical is about $13, and UNL's 2026 custom rates survey put drone application at $15.17 statewide and self-propelled ground spraying at $10 in the Southwest district. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Corn fungicide and western bean cutworm	from $13/acre	Around tassel
Soybean passes	from $13/acre	R3
Alfalfa weevil	from $13/acre	At threshold
Rangeland grasshoppers	from $11/acre	Reduced-rate strips
Noxious weed patches	from $14/acre	Thistles, spurge
Cover crop seeding	from $17/acre	Seed billed separately

Each visit has a $300 minimum. Product is billed separately. Quotes reflect pivots, canals, rail lines and the spray volume on the label.

Third in Nebraska for sales

Lincoln County had 995 farms on 1.64 million acres in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, averaging 1,647 acres, with sales of $1.01 billion, third in Nebraska. Livestock brought in $690.5 million.

Crop or livestock	2022
Corn for grain	194,742 acres
Soybeans	69,225 acres
Hay and forage	68,511 acres
Irrigated land	223,303 acres
Cattle and calves	305,622 head

About 35% of farms run 1,000 acres or more. Crop sales of $321 million ranked 12th in Nebraska, and livestock ranked third. The county covers 2,575 square miles and had 34,676 residents in 2020. Drone spraying in Lincoln County covers irrigated corn, soybeans and alfalfa in the Platte valley and pasture and range beyond it.

Western bean cutworm

UNL recommends treating non-Bt corn when 5–8% of plants carry egg masses or larvae, scouting 20 plants in at least five spots. Cry1F traits have lost effectiveness to resistance, while Vip3A traits generally need no treatment. Spraying at about 95% tassel, before larvae reach the ears, works by air, and the North Platte trap caught its first moths on July 3 in one recent season. A drone flies tasseled corn without driving down rows.

Rangeland grasshoppers

UNL's 2026 outlook warned of high grasshopper pressure after the 2025 survey. The rangeland threshold is about 25–30 per square yard, nymphs under three-quarters of an inch are easiest to control, and hatch begins once soil reaches 50–55°F. Reduced Agent and Area Treatments, spraying alternating strips, cut cost 50–60% and insecticide 65–70% while giving up to 85% control. Crews check Bulletins Live! Two before every range job.

Alfalfa weevil

UNL samples at least five sites of 10 stems each and sets thresholds by plant height and hay value. At 50% bud or later, cutting early beats spraying. Longer-residual products fit stands at 10–15 inches and short pre-harvest-interval products fit taller alfalfa.

Groundwater, canals and power plants

The Twin Platte Natural Resources District in North Platte oversees about 320,000 acres irrigated with groundwater alone and about 45,000 with mixed sources, under a well-drilling moratorium. Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District canals carry Lake McConaughy water to about 109,000 acres across five counties, and NPPD's Gerald Gentleman Station near Sutherland, the state's largest power plant, draws on Platte water for cooling. Operators map canals, reservoirs and the North and South Platte as no-spray zones and park pivots out of the flight path. NPPD drained the Sutherland Canal between Sutherland Reservoir and Lake Maloney from February to April 2026 for maintenance, a reminder to confirm canal schedules before spring jobs.

County noxious weeds

Lincoln County's weed control authority lists Canada, musk and plumeless thistle, leafy spurge, phragmites, purple loosestrife, saltcedar, spotted knapweed and Japanese knotweed as noxious. A drone reaches patches in canyons, pasture corners and creek banks where ground rigs can't.

Loess Canyons and redcedar

South of North Platte, landowners in the roughly 338,000-acre Loess Canyons have burned more than 85,000 acres since 2002 to stop eastern redcedar, since grassland that turns to cedar woodland loses about 75% of its livestock production. Drones spot-treat young cedars and follow-up patches between burns.

Research center and Bailey Yard

UNL's West Central Research, Extension and Education Center in North Platte runs about 1,800 acres of pasture and crops plus the 12,800-acre Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory. Union Pacific's Bailey Yard, at 2,850 acres and over eight miles long, is the world's largest rail yard; rail lines and yards stay off every flight plan.

Field conditions

Field condition	Ground sprayer	Spray drone
Irrigated corn at tassel	Crop damage	Flies above the canopy
Canyon pasture and range	Can't reach	Follows terrain
Alfalfa between cuttings	Wheel tracks	No crop contact
Fields along canals	Drift concerns	Mapped buffers

A Lincoln County spray season

Window	Typical drone work
May	Alfalfa weevil, grasshopper hatch watch
June	Range grasshoppers, noxious weeds
July	Western bean cutworm around tassel
August	Corn fungicide, soybean R3
Late August to September	Cover crops into standing crops

Licensing and airspace

In Nebraska, a drone application is an aerial application and the pilot is the applicator. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) requires Category 12 Aerial for restricted-use products, and the business holds an FAA Part 137 certificate with Part 107 pilots. Crews check airspace near North Platte Regional Airport before every nearby job.