Drone Spraying in Garvin County, OK for Pasture, Hay and Pecans

What drone spraying costs in Garvin County

Drone spraying in Garvin County, OK is quoted per acre, application only. Drone operators serving the county list $11–30 per acre, and Oklahoma's typical drone rate is about $12. OSU's custom rates survey puts air application of herbicide at $10.20 per acre statewide. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Pasture broadleaf herbicide	from $11/acre	Ragweed, thistle
Hay insecticide	from $11/acre	Fall armyworm, stem maggot
Sericea lespedeza	from $12/acre	Summer or September timing
Grasshopper control	from $12/acre	Nymph stage
Pecan fungicide and insecticide	from $16/acre	Scab, casebearer
Brush and cedar spot work	from $18/acre	Mapped trees and patches

Each visit has a $250 minimum, and neighbors on the same road can share a trip. Quotes reflect acres, tree cover, pecan canopy height and the spray volume on the label.

Cattle, hay and pecans

Livestock brought in 74% of Garvin County's $54.8 million in farm sales in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, and pasture covers 65% of farmland.

Land use or crop	2022
Pasture	279,539 acres
Woodland	46,817 acres
Forage hay	44,096 acres
Pecans	8,241 acres on 158 farms
Wheat	6,171 acres
Cattle and calves	63,985 head

Most of the county's 1,403 farms are small or mid-size: 59% are under 180 acres. Drone spraying in Garvin County is mostly grass work, with pecan groves along the Washita adding a second season.

Western ragweed and musk thistle

OSU puts the timing for the two most common pasture weeds months apart:

• Western ragweed: 2,4-D at about 1 pound per acre when plants are 2–4 inches tall, usually early May in Oklahoma, gives 80–100% control.
• Musk thistle: rosettes are present from September to February and bolt in March and April. Spray rosettes, with spring timing working best, using 2,4-D amine, GrazonNext or Weedmaster.

Once ragweed is knee-high or thistle has bolted, control drops and rates go up.

Sericea lespedeza on native grass

Sericea lespedeza is found across Oklahoma outside the Panhandle and can add 430–850 pounds of seed per acre to the seed bank each year. OSU's options:

1. June to early July: Remedy at 1 pint or PastureGard at 1.5 pints per acre gives over 93% control.
2. September at mid-bloom: Cimarron at 0.5 ounce per acre.
3. Avoid: 2,4-D, Grazon P+D and Weedmaster, which do not control sericea.

Armyworms and stem maggot in bermuda hay

OSU sets the fall armyworm threshold at 3–4 larvae per square foot, and control is easiest while larvae are under half an inch. Scout bermudagrass until the first killing frost and check every field before cutting. Bermudagrass stem maggot has been in Oklahoma since about 2015; at 10–20% damaged shoots, cut early, then spray a pyrethroid about 7 days after harvest. A drone can treat hay meadows on the same day pests are found, without running over regrowth.

Grasshoppers in late summer

Stage	OSU threshold	Approach
Nymphs under ½ inch	24–100 per square yard	Dimilin at 2nd–3rd nymph stage
Adults	8–40 per square yard	Contact insecticide
Field edges and ditches	Where hatch starts	Edge passes before they move in

Pecan nut casebearer and scab

Pecan nut casebearer traps go out by May 1, and egg-laying starts at the end of May in southern Oklahoma. Scout 7–10 days after the first capture, and spray if two or more sampled clusters are infested, before nuts are entered 12–16 days after first capture. Pecan scab is the main pecan disease in Oklahoma, with sprays starting around May and timed with the Mesonet Pecan Scab Advisor. Tall native trees need careful volume and coverage, so operators match drone passes to tree height and label rates.

Washita bottoms and red-bed hills

Garvin County sits between the Red Bed plains and the Sandstone Hills, with the Washita River, Rush Creek and Wildhorse Creek cutting bottoms where cotton, broomcorn and pecans once dominated. Oil leases from the Robberson Field era still dot many pastures.

Field condition	Tractor sprayer	Spray drone
Washita bottoms after a rise	Can't reach the field	Flies from the field edge
Pecan groves	Air-blast rig needed	Flies above the canopy
Pasture with oil pads and lines	Constant detours	Mapped obstacles
Bermuda hay ready to cut	Crushes the stand	No crop contact

Eastern redcedar and brush

NRCS estimates eastern redcedar spreads across about 300,000 acres of Oklahoma each year. Fire works on trees 6 feet and under; larger trees and scattered elm, persimmon and blackberry are spot-treated from mapped coordinates, which saves product compared with broadcasting a whole pasture.

Oklahoma licensing for drone application

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) licenses drone applicators under the Aerial (AIR) category with a use category such as Agricultural Plant or Right-of-Way, Pasture and Rangeland. New aerial applicants must file an FAA Part 137 certificate and proof of general liability insurance. Garvin County is not one of Oklahoma's restricted-herbicide counties. The FAA requires Part 107 and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds.