Drone Spraying in Grundy County, Illinois
Morris is about twenty minutes from our shop in Newark. Fungicide, herbicide, foliar nutrients and cover crop seeding applied by drone, from $13 an acre. Veteran-owned, FAA Part 137 certified.
The ground we're talking about
Grundy County is about as close to pure row crop as Illinois gets. The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 437 farms working 188,601 acres, of which 182,204 acres are cropland — that is 97 percent of the farmland in the county under crop. Ninety-nine percent of agricultural sales here are crops. Almost nothing else.
Farms here run large: the county average is 432 acres, well above the state norm, and 42 farms are over a thousand acres. That shape suits drone work better than people expect. Big blocks are the most efficient acres we fly.
Where we fly
Morris, Minooka, Mazon, Gardner, Verona, Coal City, Braceville and the ground along the Illinois River between them.
Why a drone works on this ground
The river bottoms. The Illinois River runs the length of the county and the bottom ground beside it holds water long after the uplands have dried. That is exactly the ground you cannot get a rig onto in the week you need to spray. A drone does not care how soft the headland is, and it does not leave you ruts to farm around for the rest of the season.
Cover crop seeding, into standing crop. Only 8 percent of Grundy farms reported using cover crops in the last census. The usual reason is timing — by the time the combine is out, it is too late for establishment. Interseeding by drone into standing corn or beans moves that window forward by weeks and takes the seeding decision away from the harvest schedule entirely.
Acres are acres. We work off the field edge with product and batteries staged on site, so a full section is efficient work rather than a problem. Larger blocks get better per-acre pricing, and when a job needs more capacity we add aircraft rather than hours.
What we apply
- Fungicide — tasseling and R1 corn, and soybean applications
- Herbicide — including spot and targeted work
- Foliar nutrients and biologicals
- Cover crop seeding — interseeded into standing corn and soybeans
What it costs
Per acre, starting at $13, with volume pricing on larger blocks and whole-farm work. Most applications land between $13 and $15 depending on product, rate and field layout. Call with your acres and we will give you a real number the same day — no form to fill in first.
Every job comes with an as-applied record: where we flew, what went out and at what rate.
Book an application
Work with your agronomist or retailer on product and timing. Tell us the field, the acres, the product and when it needs to go on, and we will tell you straight whether we can do it and what it will cost.
630-465-4539 · [email]
Premium Ag Services is a veteran-owned agricultural business at 16100 Newark Rd, Newark, Illinois. We also serve Kendall, LaSalle and the surrounding counties.