Drone Spraying in Redwood County, MN for Corn and Soybeans

Redwood County drone spraying rates

Drone spraying in Redwood County, MN is priced per acre for one pass, application only. Corn and soybeans cover nearly 489,000 acres here, and the county ranks fifth in Minnesota for farm sales. Rates are set for large southwest Minnesota fields, plus the hog and turkey operations that put manure on many of them.

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Corn and soybean herbicide	from $12/acre	Post-emerge, 2–3 gallons per acre
Corn fungicide	from $13/acre	Tar spot and southern rust windows
Soybean fungicide or insecticide	from $13/acre	Aphid and R3 timings
Alfalfa and hay insecticide	from $12/acre	Between cuttings
Cover crop seeding	from $12/acre	Into standing corn or soybeans

Product is billed separately, or the grower supplies it. Minnesota drone rates run about $10–20 per acre, with $14 typical for 2026. Regional listings show $10–18, and a central Minnesota operator publishes from $15 spray and $12 seeding. Our rates sit just under the typical figure. The quote depends on water volume, crop height, field shape, shelterbelts and power lines, and travel distance. The minimum charge is $275 per visit.

Redwood County farm numbers

Measure	Redwood County, MN (2022 Census)
Farms / land in farms	1,323 farms / 560,222 acres
Average farm size	423 acres
Market value of sales	$804.0M, 5th of 87 Minnesota counties, up 77%
Grains and oilseeds	5th in Minnesota, 15th in the US
Hogs / cattle	$204.6M, 7th in MN / $101.1M, 5th in MN
Corn for grain / soybeans	257,104 / 231,905 acres
Sugarbeets	6,901 acres
Hogs / turkeys / cattle	352,676 / 350,724 / 49,053 head

Redwood is one of the 20 growing counties for the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative in Renville. Its farms also feed one of the state's larger hog and turkey sectors. That mix sets the spray calendar: herbicide passes in June, fungicide and insect decisions from late July, and cover crops on manured ground in the fall.

How a drone spray job runs in Redwood County

1. Scout and confirm. The grower or agronomist checks pest pressure and growth stage, and confirms the label allows aerial application.
2. Map. The operator marks field boundaries, shelterbelts, tile intakes, ditches, wires and nearby homes, plus public-water buffer strips.
3. Fly. The drone works 8–15 feet above the canopy and shuts off at mapped buffers.
4. Record. The grower gets product, rate, acres, time and weather in writing the same day.

Tar spot and southern rust found in Redwood County

In 2025, Minnesota Department of Agriculture staff found tar spot in five fields across Jackson, Nobles and Redwood counties. They also found southern rust at five sites, including Redwood and Renville, first detected in late July. Both diseases can build fast in a wet August. A fungicide decision between tassel and early grain fill depends on lesions on the ear leaf, hybrid ratings and the weather outlook. By then the corn is past 8 feet, and a drone treats it with no rows run down.

Drone spraying for soybean aphid, plus gall midge and SCN

• Soybean aphid: Minnesota's threshold is an average of 250 aphids per plant with more than 80% of plants infested and populations rising, through R5.
• Soybean gall midge: confirmed in Rock, Pipestone, Murray, Cottonwood, Nobles, Jackson and Martin counties in southwest Minnesota. It hasn't been reported in Redwood yet. UMN suggests scouting field edges after V2, as adults emerge from June into July. There's no established management recommendation yet.
• Soybean cyst nematode: more than 90% of Minnesota-adapted varieties in 2022 UMN trials relied on PI 88788 resistance, and SCN populations are adapting to it. Peking-source varieties are the main alternative.

Resistant waterhemp and corn rootworm

UMN confirmed glufosinate-resistant waterhemp in Dodge County in 2026. Liberty at 32 fl oz per acre gave only about 60% control, and earlier samples already showed resistance to Groups 2, 4, 5, 9, 14 and 27. Layered residuals and early post passes matter more every year. Drones fit mapped spot treatments on escapes before they set seed.

Western corn rootworm Bt resistance has been widespread in Minnesota since 2009, and extended-diapause northern corn rootworm has damaged rotated corn in southwest Minnesota since 2021. UMN's beetle thresholds are ¾–1 per plant in continuous corn and four or more per plant in rotated corn.

Southwest Research and Outreach Center at Lamberton

The University of Minnesota's Southwest Research and Outreach Center, just west of Lamberton, opened in 1959 as the Southwest Experiment Station. It covers about 240 acres and serves 14 southwestern counties, studying crops, tillage, fertility and pest management under local soils and weather. Each August, Farmfest gathers growers at the Gilfillan Estate near Morgan, six miles southwest of Redwood Falls, where spray drones are now a regular part of equipment demonstrations.

Minnesota, Redwood and Cottonwood rivers

The Minnesota River forms Redwood County's northeastern border. The Redwood River crosses the upper county, dropping through a granite gorge at Ramsey Falls in Alexander Ramsey Park, about 256 acres and described as Minnesota's largest municipal park. The Cottonwood River crosses the lower county, and Plum Creek runs near Walnut Grove. Minnesota's buffer law requires a 50-foot average, 30-foot minimum strip on public waters, and 16.5 feet along public ditches. Drone flight plans map these strips as no-spray edges. Operators also check FieldWatch's DriftWatch and BeeCheck before each flight.

Lower Sioux Indian Community land

The Lower Sioux Indian Community lies on the south bank of the Minnesota River near Morton, in Paxton and Sherman townships. About 115 acres around the Lower Sioux Agency historic site were returned to the tribe in 2021. Pesticide application on tribal land falls under tribal and federal authority rather than the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, so operators coordinate separately before working there.

MDA and MnDOT licensing, dicamba and airspace

Drone applicators in Minnesota need an MDA license with Category A Core, Category B General Aerial and a site category such as C Field Crops. They also need MnDOT aircraft registration for each drone and a MnDOT commercial operation license with insurance. FAA requirements are Part 107, a Part 137 certificate, and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds.

Redwood County is south of I-94, so over-the-top dicamba is cut off after June 12 in 2026. It is barred above 85°F and needs a 240-foot downwind buffer. The labels do not allow aerial application. Redwood Falls Municipal Airport, about 2 nautical miles northeast of town, has a 4,001-foot runway and no tower.