Ag Drone Services in Grant County, WA for Potatoes, Wheat and Fruit

Ag drone service rates in Grant County

Ag drone services in Grant County, WA are priced per acre, per pass, application only. Washington drone rates generally run $14–28 per acre, a Yakima operator lists $15–30, and Idaho operators charge $10–22 with minimums around $300. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Herbicide and burndown	from $14/acre	Pivot corners, field edges
Wheat and row-crop fungicide or insecticide	from $15/acre	Stripe rust, aphids
Potato insecticide and fungicide	from $16/acre	Vector insects, late blight
Orchard and vineyard	from $22/acre	Higher spray volume
Seeding and granular	from $16/acre	Cover crops, reseeding

Each job has a $300 minimum. Product is billed separately. Quotes reflect circle size, corners, wind exposure, distance from orchards and vineyards and the spray volume on the label.

Washington's top farm county

Grant County ranked first in Washington and tenth in the US for farm sales in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, at $2.6 billion. Crops made up 75% of that, and 477,913 acres are irrigated, mostly through the Columbia Basin Project.

Crop or livestock	2022
Forage (alfalfa, timothy and hay)	159,550 acres
Wheat	145,861 acres
Vegetables (incl. onions, sweet corn)	111,254 acres
Apples	61,627 acres
Potatoes	60,612 acres
Cattle	195,818 head

Ag drone services in Grant County cover very different jobs: dryland and irrigated wheat, potatoes under pivots, hay, tree fruit and wine grapes.

Potatoes: insects that spread disease

WSU's Columbia Basin potato pest survey tracks the insects that matter most:

• Beet leafhopper carries the phytoplasma behind purple top. It moves into fields in late May and early June and peaks in late June; weed hosts include kochia, Russian thistle and mustards.
• Potato psyllid spreads zebra chip, first found in the Basin in 2011, and arrives in May and June.
• Green peach aphid spreads PVY and leafroll virus.
• Potato tuberworm is watched from August to October, with sprays 4–8 weeks before harvest.

For late blight, WSU runs a Columbia Basin forecast model and hotline. A drone can treat a circle on short notice without driving through canopy that's closed across the rows.

Stripe rust in 2026

WSU's March 2026 forecast put stripe rust in the upper range of a severe epidemic, with potential losses up to 55.8% on highly susceptible varieties and up to 40% on commercial varieties without fungicide. Rust was found early in neighboring Adams and Franklin counties, the worst early spread since 2011. WSU advises fungicide at herbicide timing and a second pass 20–30 days later when needed.

Apples, cherries and hay

Crop	Window	Main targets
Apples	May–June onward	Codling moth, powdery mildew
Cherries	May–June	Cherry fruit fly, powdery mildew
Alfalfa	April–May	Weevil before first cutting
Onions	June–August	Thrips

Orchards around Quincy and George use high spray volumes, so drone passes are matched to tree size and label rates. Drones work best on young blocks, edges and fields too wet to drive after irrigation sets.

Wahluke Slope vineyards and drift

The Wahluke Slope AVA lies entirely in Grant County around Mattawa, with about 8,900 acres of wine grapes, mostly Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Grapes and tree fruit are highly sensitive to growth-regulator herbicides such as 2,4-D and dicamba. Operators map vineyards, orchards, homes and canals as no-spray zones, use coarse droplets and fly only in light wind, which matters in a county known for afternoon wind.

Circles, corners and scablands

Field condition	Ground sprayer	Spray drone
Pivot corners and dry wedges	Awkward turns	Mapped polygons
Wet circle after irrigation	Ruts in the tracks	No soil contact
Basalt and scabland edges	Rocks, steep breaks	Flies over them
Potatoes with closed rows	Vine damage	No crop contact

Potholes Reservoir, Moses Lake and the Columbia River's Wanapum and Priest Rapids pools border farm ground, and canals and wasteways run through most of the irrigated area. All are mapped before the first flight.

Airspace around Moses Lake

Grant County International Airport northwest of Moses Lake has one of the longest runways in the country and a control tower, and it's used for aircraft testing. Flights near the airport need FAA authorization. Operators check airspace for every field and file approvals before takeoff. Smaller strips near Ephrata, Quincy and Warden are checked the same way, since manned ag aircraft may be working the same area.

Washington licensing and spray records

The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) licenses commercial pesticide applicators, and WSDA has published guidance for drone pesticide application. Under RCW 17.21.100, application records are made the same day and kept for 7 years, including start and end times, product, rate, acres and wind speed and direction, with a copy to the landowner. The FAA requires Part 107, Part 137 and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds.