Drone Spraying in Kendall County, Illinois
We are based at 16100 Newark Rd in Newark — inside Kendall County. Not a service area on somebody's map. The same twenty minutes it takes you to get to Yorkville is the same twenty minutes it takes us.
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
Kendall County farmers planted 62,600 acres of corn and 51,240 acres of soybeans in the most recent Census of Agriculture. That is a shade over 110,000 row-crop acres in a county you can drive across in half an hour.
It has not always looked like this. In 1950 this county grew 77,973 acres of corn and just 8,955 acres of soybeans. Beans have gone up roughly sixfold since, and the fungicide decision that comes with them is a big part of why anybody is reading a page about aerial application at all.
Where we fly
Newark, Yorkville, Oswego, Plano, Sandwich, Millbrook, Millington, Lisbon, Plattville, Little Rock, Bristol and Boulder Hill — and the ground in between that does not have a name on the map.
During fungicide season we are usually somewhere in the county already, which is why Kendall jobs often get same-week scheduling when farther work does not.
Why a drone earns its keep on this ground in particular
Fields that back onto houses. Kendall has grown faster than almost anywhere in Illinois, and it shows in the field boundaries. Around Oswego, Yorkville and Plano there is row crop running straight up against subdivisions, schools and back yards. That is uncomfortable ground for a plane and slow ground for a ground rig. A drone flies it at fifteen feet with the droplet size set before takeoff, and stops where you tell it to stop.
The Fox River and the timber along it. The river cuts the county corner to corner and drags timber, bottom ground and awkward corners along with it. Fields tucked behind trees get sprayed on the same pass at the same rate, without bringing in a second piece of equipment for the twelve acres nobody wants.
Wet spring ground. The right week to spray is often the week you cannot get a rig in the field. A drone does not care that the headland is soft, and it will not leave you ruts to farm around for the rest of the season.
And the big blocks too. Acres are acres to a drone — we work off the field edge with product and batteries staged on site, so a full section is the most efficient work we do, and it is priced accordingly. When a job needs more capacity we add aircraft, not 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.
We publish that number because you should not have to fill in a form to find out roughly what something costs. Call with your acres and we will give you a real one the same day.
Questions we get
How much notice do you need?
Less in Kendall than anywhere else we work, because we are already here. In the thick of fungicide season, call as early as you can — the window is the window, and everyone wants the same week.
My field backs onto a subdivision. Can you still spray it?
This is the situation drones are best at. Droplet size is set on the ground rather than guessed at, the aircraft flies a mapped boundary, and we shut off where the map says to. If conditions are not right we will tell you and come back — that is true anywhere, but it matters more with houses on the other side of the fence.
Do I get a record of it?
Every job comes with an as-applied record: where we flew, what went out and at what rate. Your agronomist wants it and so does your insurance.
Who is actually flying?
Erik. I quote your acres and I fly them. I spent more than a decade in aerial application in manned aircraft before I ever flew a spray drone, and I moved back to within two miles of where I grew up to start this.
Book an application
Work with your agronomist or retailer on the 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 60541. We also serve Grundy, LaSalle, DeKalb, Kane and Will counties.
How drone application works, and what the trial data says →
Thinking about buying your own? We sell the aircraft we fly →