Ag Drone Services in Outagamie County, WI for Alfalfa, Corn and Wheat

Outagamie County ag drone services rates

Ag drone services in Outagamie County, Wisconsin are priced per acre for application only. Product is billed at cost, or you supply it. Drone operators serving the county list $11–22 per acre, with a Wisconsin typical near $16. For comparison, UW's 2025 custom rate survey puts ground fungicide application at $12.17 on average.

Service	Typical rate
Alfalfa weevil and leafhopper passes	from $14/acre
Corn fungicide (tar spot)	from $14/acre
Wheat head scab fungicide	from $15/acre
Soybean white mold fungicide	from $15/acre
Cover crop seeding after silage	from $15/acre

What changes a quote: acres per trip, wet Wolf River bottoms, tree lines, manure-storage areas and wires, gallons per acre on the label, and whether a field sits in controlled airspace near Appleton. Each visit has a $325 minimum.

Outagamie County dairy and forage

The 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture counts 1,000 farms on 241,653 acres in Outagamie County, averaging 242 acres. Sales reached $381.9 million, 16th in Wisconsin and up 45%. Livestock makes up 67% of sales, and milk alone brought $219.7 million, tenth in the state. The county carries about 81,600 cattle.

Crop	Acres (2022)
Corn for grain	61,934
Soybeans	58,108
Hay and haylage	37,047
Corn silage	22,082
Wheat	6,639

Forage and silage drive the spray calendar. Every cutting and every silage harvest sets the timing for the next pass.

Alfalfa weevil and potato leafhopper thresholds in Outagamie County

Alfalfa weevil. UW Extension starts scouting at 300 degree days (base 48°F). It treats first-crop alfalfa when 40% of stems show feeding and harvest is more than seven days away, and regrowth at 50%. Cutting early is often the best control.

Potato leafhopper. UW thresholds rise with stand height:

Alfalfa height	Leafhoppers per sweep
3 inches	0.2
6 inches	0.5
8–11 inches	1.0
Over 12 inches	2.0

Populations drop by mid-August and are rarely economic after Labor Day, so stubble should not be sprayed automatically. A drone treats regrowth right after cutting without tracking the stand or compacting heavy clay.

Tar spot in grain and silage corn

Tar spot has been found in Wisconsin every year since 2016, with epidemics in 2018 and 2021. In UW trials, one VT application worked in most years, but heavy years needed two passes, at V10 and R2, timed with the Tarspotter app. In silage corn, tar spot dries plants too quickly, which hurts packing and fermentation and can raise mycotoxin risk. A drone flies over tasseled corn without knocking down rows, an advantage on the narrow fields between Kaukauna and Seymour.

Outagamie County wheat scab and soybean white mold

Wheat head scab. UW recommends fungicide from the start of anthesis up to seven days after, with about five days after flowering giving the best DON reduction. Prosaro, Caramba and Miravis Ace are the standard choices, and strobilurins should not be used after boot. In Wisconsin trials, the Feekes 10.5.1 pass returned more than $120 per acre. The window usually opens in early June.

White mold. UW times fungicide at R1, or R1 plus R3, when the canopy is more than 50% closed and Sporecaster shows high risk. Endura and Aproach performed well in trials.

Waterhemp. UW found glyphosate resistance in 95% and ALS resistance in 98% of tested Wisconsin populations. Post passes need other modes of action on small weeds.

Lower Fox River phosphorus and shallow bedrock

The Lower Fox River TMDL covers about 640 square miles in Brown, Calumet, Outagamie and Winnebago counties plus the Oneida Nation. It calls for a 59% cut in phosphorus and 55% in suspended solids, and the whole basin drains to Green Bay. Outagamie is also on DATCP's Silurian bedrock map, where manure rules depend on depth to bedrock. Mechanical manure application is not allowed where bedrock is under 2 feet, and incorporation rules apply between 2 and 20 feet. Pilots keep buffers on the Fox, Wolf, Shioc and Embarrass rivers and on drainage ditches, and avoid spraying ahead of heavy rain. Cover crops seeded by drone right after silage harvest help hold soil and manure nutrients through winter.

Wolf River bottoms and wet Outagamie County fields

In April 2026 the Wolf River was forecast to crest near a record 15 feet, and farmland around Shiocton went under water. Bottom ground along the Wolf and Shioc often stays too wet for a sprayer into early summer. A drone can treat those fields on schedule without rutting them, and it does not need to cross soft headlands to reach the far end.

Oneida Nation land in Outagamie County

The Oneida Nation reservation covers about 65,400 acres in Brown and Outagamie counties, about 23,122 of them tribally owned. In Indian Country, EPA runs the federal certification plan for restricted-use pesticide applicators, using the state certificate as the base credential. Fee land and trust land can carry different rules, so operators confirm land status with the landowner before treating.

Wisconsin licensing, ATW and AirVenture

DATCP requires a base category such as 1.1 (Field and Vegetable Crops), aerial certification for drones, an annual individual commercial applicator license and a pesticide business license. Operators also hold FAA Part 107 and Part 137 certification, plus a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds. Appleton International (ATW) has Class D airspace with a 4.4-mile radius, and Green Bay Austin Straubel (GRB) has Class C to the northeast, so fields near either need LAANC authorization. During EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh each July, special flight rules and daily airshow restrictions apply. Pilots plan around them and check tfr.faa.gov before flying. Shiocton (W34) is a small local field.