Drone Spraying in Kaufman County, TX for Hay, Pasture and Small Acreage

Drone spraying prices in Kaufman County

Drone spraying in Kaufman County, TX is quoted per acre, application only. Operators listed for the county start at $12–15 per acre, one with a 20-acre minimum. For comparison, Texas A&M AgriLife's 2026 custom rates put aerial herbicide at $9.27 in its North region and $11.67 in its East region. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Hay insecticide	from $11/acre	Fall armyworm
Pasture and hay herbicide	from $12/acre	Broadleaf weeds
Johnsongrass in bermuda	from $12/acre	Where labeled for aerial use
Overseeding	from $14/acre	Seed billed separately
Brush and fence rows	from $22/acre	Higher spray volume

Each visit has a $200 minimum, and neighbors can share a trip. Product is billed separately. Quotes reflect acreage, homes nearby, tree lines and the spray volume on the label.

Small places, horses and hay

Kaufman County had 2,478 farms in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, averaging 113 acres, and 55% are 10–49 acres. Livestock made up 78% of sales.

Crop or livestock	2022
Hay and forage	57,036 acres
Wheat	2,404 acres
Cattle	55,746 head
Goats	3,790 head
Horses	2,935 head

The county ranks fifth in Texas for horses. Drone spraying in Kaufman County is mostly hay meadows, horse and cattle pastures and small places.

The fastest-growing county in the country

Kaufman County grew 7.6% from 2022 to 2023, the fastest of any U.S. county, and reached an estimated 209,000 people in 2025. Pastures around Forney, Terrell and Kaufman now border subdivisions, so operators map homes, barns, arenas, gardens and wells as no-spray zones and fly only in light wind blowing away from them.

Fall armyworm in hay

AgriLife's threshold is more than two to three larvae half an inch or longer per square foot. The last two to three days of feeding cause about 80% of the leaf loss, so early treatment matters; spray early morning or evening. Chlorantraniliprole carries 0-day grazing and hay intervals with weeks of residual, while pyrethroids last only two to three days. Cutting early also kills most larvae.

Johnsongrass in bermuda

Johnsongrass grows 3–6 feet tall and spreads by rhizomes. AgriLife lists Outrider and Pastora for bermudagrass hay; Pastora kills bahiagrass and Outrider can injure it, so the stand mix decides the product.

Blackland clay and floodplains

Houston Black clay, the Texas state soil, covers about 1.5 million acres of Blackland Prairie; it cracks when dry and takes in water very slowly when wet. The Kaufman soil series, 60–72% clay on floodplains, floods occasionally and is mostly in dallisgrass, bermuda or fescue pasture. A drone never touches that soil, so fields can be treated soon after rain.

Herbicide rules next door

Kaufman County isn't on TDA's regulated-herbicide list, and neither are Van Zandt, Henderson, Ellis or Navarro. Dallas, Rockwall, Collin and Hunt are regulated, and Hunt bans aerial application of regulated herbicides from April 15 to September 1. Fields across those lines are checked before booking.

Cedar Creek, Ray Hubbard and bees

Cedar Creek Reservoir, about 34,000 acres shared with Henderson County, was completed in 1965 by the Tarrant Regional Water District to supply Fort Worth, and Lake Ray Hubbard reaches the county's western edge. Operators map lakes, creeks, stock tanks and homes as no-spray zones and use only products labeled for use near water. The county has an active beekeepers association, and crews check FieldWatch's DriftWatch and BeeCheck before every job.

Where extension work began

In 1903, Seaman Knapp's demonstration farm near Terrell, set up to fight the boll weevil, launched the "Terrell Plan" that grew into today's county extension system. The Kaufman County AgriLife office still runs a hay show with pesticide credits for local producers.

Kaufman's farm economy today

AgriLife put Kaufman County's 2023 gross agricultural sales at $95.4 million, with livestock and forage making up $68.9 million, or 72%. Corn was the main crop from the 1860s to 1930; today hay dominates. The 2022 census counted 341 farms under 10 acres and just 37 over 1,000 acres, plus 2,617 sheep alongside cattle, goats and horses. This year's county hay show program covers pasture mealybug, a newer pest that hay producers are watching.

Airports and airspace

Terrell Municipal Airport, southeast of Terrell, has a 5,006-foot runway and was a British flight training school during World War II. The western part of the county sits close to the Dallas metro's busy airspace, so operators check every field and get authorization where needed.

A Kaufman County spray year

Window	Typical drone work
February to March	Winter weeds before green-up
April to June	Spring broadleaves, Johnsongrass
June to September	Hay weeds after cutting
Late summer to fall	Fall armyworm
October	Ryegrass overseeding

Texas licensing

The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) requires a Commercial Applicator license, $200 a year, with the Aerial category plus another use category. The FAA requires Part 107, Part 137 and a Section 44807 exemption for drones of 55 pounds or more.