Crop Spraying in Tuscarawas County, Ohio by Drone

Crop spraying rates in Tuscarawas County

Crop spraying in Tuscarawas County, OH by drone is billed per acre, one pass, application only. You buy the product through your co-op or agronomist, and an ODA-licensed operator applies it at label rate, usually at 2–3 gallons per acre.

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Corn fungicide & insecticide	from $13/acre	gray leaf spot, tar spot
Soybean fungicide & insecticide	from $13/acre	frogeye, white mold, stink bugs
Hay & alfalfa	from $13/acre	potato leafhopper, weevil, weeds
Pasture weed & brush control	from $15/acre	thistles, multiflora rose, autumn olive
Cover crop seeding	from $12/acre	rye after silage, into standing crops

Quotes for Tuscarawas County range from $13 to $30 per acre, and Ohio's typical drone rate is about $15 per acre, in line with Ohio State's survey average near $15. Our starting rates sit at the low end of local quotes. Price depends on acres per trip, carrier volume, slope, field shape, obstacles such as tree lines, barns and power lines, and travel from New Philadelphia. Fields under 15 acres are usually billed at a 15-acre minimum.

Hay, corn and soybeans in the hills

Tuscarawas County is a livestock and forage county in Ohio's hill country. The USDA 2022 Census counts 1,154 farms on about 166,400 acres, averaging 144 acres. Cropland covers about 80,600 acres, pasture about 37,500 and woodland about 35,700. Hay leads at about 28,400 acres, followed by corn at about 20,100, soybeans at about 17,300, corn silage at about 5,200 and wheat at about 3,000. The county had about 28,700 cattle, and milk sales topped $37 million.

Crop	Main drone jobs	Typical timing
Corn	Gray leaf spot and tar spot fungicide	VT–R2, late July–August
Soybeans	Frogeye leaf spot, white mold; stink bugs	R2–R4, July–August
Alfalfa & hay	Potato leafhopper; alfalfa weevil; weeds	May–August
Pasture	Thistles, multiflora rose, autumn olive	Spring–summer
Silage ground	Cereal rye seeding	Late August–October

Steep ground, valleys and reclaimed land

Fields here range from flat Tuscarawas River bottoms around Dover, New Philadelphia and Gnadenhutten to steep hillsides and ridgetops. Parts of the county are reclaimed surface-mine land now used for hay and pasture.

• Steep slopes are sprayed without the rollover risk of a ground rig.
• Small, irregular fields between woods and hollows cost the same per acre as big ones.
• Reclaimed pastures with rough, rocky ground are treated without driving over them.
• River bottoms are treated soon after floods or heavy rain, when equipment can't get in.

Better forage for dairy and beef

Many farms around Sugarcreek, Ragersville, Baltic and Strasburg run dairy or beef herds on hay and pasture. Potato leafhopper in alfalfa can cut yield and protein fast in summer, and drones can treat between cuttings with no wheel traffic on regrowth. In pastures, musk and Canada thistle, multiflora rose and autumn olive steal grazing, and spot spraying keeps product off good grass and clover. Grazing and haying intervals on each label are checked before every job.

Cover crops after silage and soybeans

Cereal rye seeded by drone into standing soybeans or right after corn silage harvest protects sloping fields from winter erosion and can be grazed or chopped in spring. Drones spread seed evenly over hills and contour strips that are hard to reach with a drill.

Water buffers in Tuscarawas County

The Tuscarawas River and Sugar Creek cross the county, and Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District lakes such as Atwood, Tappan and Leesville sit near its edges. Labels require buffers from water, and drones hold mapped buffers precisely around streams, ponds and wetlands.

Spray calendar for Tuscarawas County

Months	Typical jobs
April–May	Burndown; alfalfa weevil; spring pasture weeds
June	Post-emergence herbicide; potato leafhopper; multiflora rose
Late July–August	Corn fungicide at tassel; soybean fungicide and insects
August–October	Cover crop seeding into soybeans and after silage
September–October	Fall thistle rosettes and brush

Why Tuscarawas County farmers use drones

• Safer on hills than tractors and self-propelled sprayers.
• No wheel tracks in tall corn and closed soybean rows.
• Timely passes after rain, when bottom fields are too wet.
• Precise placement near homes, schools and the many small farms in the county.

Ohio licensing for drone spraying

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) licenses pesticide applicators. Anyone applying pesticides by aircraft, including drones, needs a Commercial Pesticide Applicator License with category C-1, Aerial Application, and must submit a copy of their FAA pilot certificate to ODA. Starting January 1, 2027, every person making an aerial pesticide application in Ohio, including farmers spraying their own fields by drone, will need a commercial license with category C-1.

Federal rules require an FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate, a Part 137 agricultural aircraft operator certificate and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds. If a label prohibits aerial application, the product cannot be applied by drone.

How booking works

1. Send the field location, crop, acres and target.
2. We match you with an ODA-licensed, FAA Part 137-certified operator working in Tuscarawas County.
3. You approve the per-acre quote and spray window.
4. The operator maps the field, applies and sends you the application record.

Communities we cover

New Philadelphia, Dover, Uhrichsville, Dennison, Sugarcreek, Strasburg, Bolivar, Gnadenhutten, Newcomerstown, Baltic, Ragersville, Zoar and Port Washington, plus farms along the Stark, Carroll, Harrison, Guernsey, Coshocton and Holmes county lines.