Ag Drone Spraying in Shelby County, Texas for Pasture and Hay

Ag drone spraying prices in Shelby County

Ag drone spraying in Shelby County, TX is priced per acre for one pass, application only. This is one of Texas's biggest poultry counties: 99% of farm sales come from livestock and poultry, and the county ranks second in the state for poultry and eggs. Most of the land around the barns is pasture and hay, about 157,000 acres of pasture and 17,000 of hay. The rates below are set for that ground, from Center to Tenaha, Joaquin and Shelbyville.

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Pasture broadleaf weed control	from $11/acre	Dogfennel, ragweed, thistles
Hay meadow weeds and armyworms	from $11/acre	Bahia and bermudagrass
Smutgrass control	from $13/acre	Labeled grass products
Brush and young pine encroachment	from $16/acre	Fence lines, draws, spot work
Spot work around barns and ponds	from $16/acre	Small or broken areas

Product is billed separately, or the rancher supplies it. Texas drone rates run about $8–21 per acre for most crops, with $12 typical for 2026. Our rates sit at or under that figure for pasture. The quote depends on water volume, field shape, timber edges, poultry houses, power lines and travel distance. The minimum charge is $250 per visit.

Shelby County, Texas farm numbers

Measure	Shelby County, TX (2022 Census)
Farms / land in farms	799 farms / 252,770 acres
Average farm size	316 acres
Market value of sales	$625.8M, 12th in Texas, up 34%
Livestock and poultry share	99%
Poultry and eggs rank	2nd in Texas
Broilers on farms	19.1 million
Pasture / woodland / cropland	156,846 / 49,647 / 35,527 acres
Hay and forage / cattle	17,179 acres / 43,650 head

Center hosts the East Texas Poultry Festival every October, and poultry and timber are the county's two main industries. Most poultry farms also run cattle and cut hay on the pasture around their barns. In Shelby County, those pastures are often small and broken up by barns, pads, ponds and timber. That layout is slow work for a ground sprayer, and a drone can cover it in one visit.

Ag drone spraying on litter-fed pasture

Poultry litter spread on bahiagrass and bermudagrass pastures grows a lot of grass, and a lot of weeds. Dogfennel, bitter sneezeweed, ragweed and thistles take hold in thin spots and along timber edges. Weeds are easiest to kill when they're small, usually in late spring. Smutgrass is harder: it spreads in overgrazed bahia, and cattle avoid it. Treating it takes a labeled grass product, and results depend on rate and timing. A drone covers small, scattered pastures between barns and timber without moving a sprayer from field to field.

Working around poultry houses

With more than 19 million broilers on farms, Shelby County has poultry houses on nearly every road. Operators:

• map every house, tunnel fan and feed bin as a no-spray zone;
• keep wind blowing away from fans, since spray drawn into a house can harm birds;
• clean equipment and avoid driving onto farm pads unless the grower clears it;
• follow integrator biosecurity rules, especially during bird flu alerts.

Hay meadows and armyworms

Fall armyworms can strip a bermudagrass meadow in a few days in late summer, often right after a cutting. Texas A&M AgriLife recommends scouting regularly and treating when larvae are small. Speed matters more than anything, because a heavy infestation can take a whole cutting. A drone needs no trailer move between meadows and can be in a field the day the worms are found. Shelby County hay is often cut three or four times a season, so the window between cuttings is short. Grazing and haying intervals depend on the product, so the operator writes them on every record.

Brush, pines and timber edges

Woodland covers about 49,600 acres of farmland, and the Sabine National Forest takes up much of the county's east side. Young pines, sweetgum, yaupon and blackberry keep moving into pasture from the timber. A drone can treat them along fence rows, draws and creek banks where a tractor can't go. Herbicides that kill brush can also kill valuable timber nearby, so operators map pine plantations and keep strict buffers. Many owners manage timber on the same land, so those buffers protect a second income.

Toledo Bend, creeks and water quality

Toledo Bend Reservoir on the Sabine River forms Shelby County's eastern border. Creeks across the county carry runoff from litter-fed pastures toward the reservoir, and phosphorus from litter is a long-running concern in East Texas watersheds. In Shelby County, operators map creeks, ponds and the lake shore as no-spray edges, use coarse droplets near water, and avoid flights when heavy rain is coming. Texas herbicide rules for certain counties and products are set by TDA, and operators check them before each job.

Local airspace

Center Municipal Airport has no control tower, and most of the county sits in uncontrolled airspace far from any major airport. Low-flying aircraft still use the area, including aerial applicators, timber survey planes and medical helicopters. Operators check for traffic and temporary flight restrictions before every single job.

TDA licensing for drone applicators

For-hire drone applicators in Texas need a Texas Department of Agriculture commercial applicator license with the aerial category and a use category such as weed control or field crops. FAA requirements are Part 107, a Part 137 certificate, and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds.