Ag Drone Spraying in Putnam County, Ohio for Soybeans, Corn and Wheat

Putnam County ag drone spray prices

Ag drone spraying in Putnam County, OH is priced per acre for one pass, application only. Soybeans cover 163,724 acres here, and the county ranks fifth in Ohio for farm sales and second for crop sales. Rates are set for flat, slow-draining northwest Ohio clay, where wet fields can stall a ground sprayer for days.

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Soybean and corn herbicide	from $13/acre	Post-emerge, 2–3 gallons per acre
Wheat head scab fungicide	from $13/acre	Feekes 10.5.1
Soybean and corn fungicide	from $14/acre	R3 soybeans, VT corn
In-crop fertilizer	from $15/acre	Labeled foliar products on growing crops
Cover crop seeding	from $14/acre	Into standing crops or after wheat

Product is billed separately, or the grower supplies it. Ohio drone rates are about $15 per acre typical for 2026. OSU's custom rate survey put drone chemical application at $14.64, and its 2026 figures put drone seeding at $15.64 and fertilizer at $17.15. Our rates sit below those benchmarks. The quote depends on water volume, canopy height, field shape, tree lines and power lines, and travel distance. There is a 15-acre billing minimum per visit.

Putnam County crop numbers

Measure	Putnam County, OH (2022 Census)
Farms / land in farms	1,471 farms / 306,504 acres
Market value of sales	$392.3M, 5th in Ohio
Crop sales / grains and oilseeds	$248.3M, 2nd in Ohio / $229.9M, 2nd in Ohio
Vegetable sales	$14.1M, 2nd in Ohio
Soybeans / corn / wheat	163,724 / 83,381 / 26,201 acres
Hogs	152,256 head, 7th in Ohio by sales
Milk	$44.4M, 5th in Ohio

With 26,201 acres of wheat, many Putnam County farms run a wheat and double-crop soybean rotation. That puts a head scab spray in late May or early June and a soybean fungicide in August on the same ground.

Why ag drone spraying fits northwest Ohio lakebed clay

Northwest Ohio's old lakebed soils are very flat, high in clay and slow to drain. At OSU's Northwest Agricultural Research Station in neighboring Wood County, the Hoytville soil series keeps a perched water table within a foot of the surface from January into April. After a June storm, fields like these can stay too soft for a self-propelled sprayer for days, right when a scab or post-emerge window is closing. A drone treats from the field edge with no ruts, no compaction and no tracks across drainage tile.

OSU Extension notes that drones apply mostly at 10–20 feet with 2–10 gallons of carrier per acre. More herbicides than fungicides or insecticides are restricted from aerial use, so every product is checked against its label first.

Wheat head scab and double-crop soybeans

OSU recommends a triazole fungicide at Feekes 10.5.1, when yellow anthers appear in the middle of the head, or up to four days after that. Products rated "good" for scab and vomitoxin include Proline, Prosaro, Prosaro Pro, Sphaerex and Miravis Ace. The Penn State wheat scab risk tool helps decide whether a pass will pay.

After harvest, OSU's double-crop guidance for northern Ohio calls for 7.5- to 15-inch rows and at least 175,000 seeds per acre in late June, or 200,000 in early July. Maturity groups run 3.1–3.5 for June 15–30 plantings and 3.0–3.3 for July 1–10. Those late soybeans often need a post-emerge herbicide in July heat and a fungicide or insecticide in August.

Tar spot and Ohio's weed survey

Tar spot was first found in Ohio at the end of 2018, in the northwest corner near Indiana. By September 2021 it was in 21 counties, and it was showing up as early as R1, well before the R4 timing seen earlier. Northwest Ohio growers now scout ear leaves from July. A fungicide decision between tassel and early grain fill is where a drone saves the most, flying over 9-foot corn with no rows lost.

OSU's 2023 pre-harvest survey of 4,027 soybean fields in 46 counties found volunteer corn in 17% of fields, giant ragweed in 14%, waterhemp in 13% and marestail in 10%. Waterhemp turned up in 89% of surveyed counties. Drones fit rescue and spot passes on mapped escapes before they set seed.

Lake Erie Basin rules: SB 1, the TMDL and H2Ohio

Putnam County is one of 14 Western Lake Erie Basin counties in H2Ohio, draining through the Blanchard, Auglaize and Ottawa rivers toward the Maumee. Under Senate Bill 1, in effect since 2015:

• Fertilizer may not be applied on frozen or snow-covered ground, on saturated topsoil, or as granular product when the forecast calls for more than a 50% chance of over 1 inch of rain in 12 hours.
• Manure has the same ground limits, and a 0.5-inch, 24-hour rain threshold.
• Exemptions include fertilizer injected, incorporated within 24 hours, or applied onto a growing crop. In-crop drone fertilizer fits that last category.

EPA approved the Maumee Watershed Nutrient TMDL on September 28, 2023. H2Ohio's 2026–27 practices include overwintering cover crops, subsurface phosphorus placement and manure incorporation. Enrollment requires a current soil test and nutrient management plan through the county soil and water district. H2Ohio's enrollment kickoff in September 2023 was held on a farm in Ottawa and included an aerial cover crop seeding demonstration.

Blanchard River flooding and field access

The Blanchard River flows west past Ottawa and joins the Auglaize about 2 miles north of Cloverdale. The August 2007 flood did about $12 million in damage in Ottawa and more than $100 million upstream in Findlay. Bottom fields along the Blanchard and Auglaize often stay wet after heavy rain. A drone can make a timely pass there while a ground rig would sink.

Ohio licensing and airspace

Applying pesticides by drone in Ohio requires an Ohio Department of Agriculture commercial license with the aerial category. The application asks whether work is manned or unmanned and requires a Part 137 certificate. Operators also need FAA Part 107 and, for drones over 55 pounds, a Section 44807 exemption. Ohio's Sensitive Crop Registry runs on FieldWatch, and Putnam County's vegetable ground makes checking DriftWatch before each flight essential. The 2026 over-the-top dicamba labels do not allow aerial application.

Putnam County Airport, 3 miles northeast of Ottawa, has a 4,502-foot runway and no control tower. Fields near it need airport awareness.