Crop Spraying in Greene County, TN by Drone for Hay and Pasture

Crop spraying prices in Greene County

Crop spraying in Greene County, TN by drone is priced per acre, per pass, application only. Tennessee drone rates run $9–17 per acre with about $12 typical, and statewide quotes run $14–20. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Pasture and hay herbicide	from $12/acre	Buttercup, hemlock, thistles
Hay insecticide	from $12/acre	Fall armyworm
Corn fungicide	from $13/acre	Silage and grain
Clover and cover crop seeding	from $14/acre	Pasture renovation
Steep-ground spot work	from $16/acre	Brush, fence rows

Fields under 10 acres are billed as 10 acres. Product is billed separately. Steep slopes, tree lines and scattered fields add flight time, which the quote shows up front.

Tennessee's top hay county

Greene County ranked first in Tennessee for "other crops and hay" and sixth for cattle in the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Its 2,344 farms average just 89 acres, and 54% are under 50 acres.

Crop or livestock	2022
Forage (hay and haylage)	64,915 acres
Pasture	78,053 acres
Corn for grain	3,631 acres
Soybeans	2,036 acres
Corn silage	1,680 acres
Cattle	61,044 head

Hay and pasture dwarf row crops here, so crop spraying in Greene County is mostly grass work: clearing weeds before the first cutting and protecting hay from armyworms in late summer.

Buttercup: fall beats spring

UT Extension's buttercup guidance:

1. Best window: late October to early December, before the plants overwinter.
2. Second window: late February to early April.
3. Weather: start after three days in a row warming to 55–60°F.
4. Products: 2,4-D ester for hairy buttercup; GrazonNext HL or DuraCor for bulbous buttercup.

Once fields turn yellow in April, it's too late for that season. A drone covers wet winter pastures and steep slopes a tractor can't.

Poison hemlock

UT recommends spraying poison hemlock in November or March–April with 2,4-D, dicamba, 2,4-D plus dicamba or GrazonNext HL. Keep livestock out until the plants are brown and dry, since hemlock is toxic and animals may eat it more readily after spraying. Fence rows, creek banks, barn lots and old garden sites are common spots.

Fall armyworm in hay

UT's threshold for fall armyworm in pasture and hay is about 4 per square foot, and treatment should start as soon as worms are found; flocks of birds working a field are a warning sign. If harvest is a week away or less, cut instead of spraying. If harvest is more than 14 days away, longer-lasting products like Intrepid, Besiege or Prevathon are options.

Ridge-and-Valley pastures

Most of Greene County lies in the Ridge-and-Valley, with the Bald Mountains along the North Carolina line and Bays Mountain on the north. The Nolichucky River drains the south half.

Field condition	Tractor sprayer	Spray drone
Steep hillside pasture	Rollover risk	Follows terrain
Small hayfields between woods	Missed corners	Mapped edges
Wet creek bottoms	Ruts	No soil contact
Fenced paddocks	Many gates	Flies over fences

Thistles, horsenettle and fence-row brush

Musk and bull thistle are easiest to kill as rosettes in fall or early spring, before they bolt. Horsenettle and tall ironweed are treated in early summer before they bloom, and multiflora rose and blackberry along fence rows are spot-treated after full leaf-out. A drone maps each patch and treats only the weeds, not the whole pasture.

Burley roots and drift care

Burley tobacco came to Greene County in the 1880s, and the county still ranks among Tennessee's tobacco producers. Tobacco and vegetables are highly sensitive to growth-regulator herbicides. Tennessee joined FieldWatch in 2018, and BeeCheck uses a one-mile radius around registered apiaries, so operators check DriftWatch and BeeCheck before every job, map tobacco patches, gardens and streams and use coarse droplets on downwind edges.

Clover and pasture renovation

Many Greene County farms add clover to fescue pastures. Pasture herbicides like aminopyralid and picloram can damage clover and carry over, so plan spraying before seeding and check each label's rotation interval. Drones can broadcast clover and cover crop seed on steep ground where a drill can't go.

A Greene County spray year

Window	Typical drone work
Late February to April	Buttercup and poison hemlock
May to June	Thistles and broadleaves before first cutting
July	Corn fungicide at tassel
Mid-August to frost	Fall armyworm in hay
Late October to early December	Fall buttercup window

Tennessee licensing for drone application

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) licenses drones as aircraft. A for-hire applicator needs commercial Category 1 (Agriculture) plus an Aerial Applicator (AER) license on form AG-0137, with at least $100,000 in liability insurance and a decal for each aircraft. The FAA requires Part 107, Part 137 and a Section 44807 exemption for drones of 55 pounds or more. Greeneville Municipal Airport sits just north of town, and operators check airspace before flights nearby.