Ag Drone Spraying in Red River County, TX for Pasture and Hay

Ag drone spray rates in Red River County

Ag drone spraying in Red River County, TX is priced per acre for one pass, application only. Livestock brings in 91% of farm sales here, and hay and haylage cover nearly 53,000 acres, by far the county's largest crop. The rates below are built around bermudagrass and bahiagrass hay, improved pasture, and the smaller soybean and wheat fields on the Red River bottoms.

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Pasture broadleaf herbicide	from $11/acre	Buttercup, thistle, summer weeds
Hay meadow weed control	from $11/acre	Timed around cuttings
Stem maggot and armyworm insecticide	from $12/acre	Bermudagrass hay, after cutting
Soybean and wheat fungicide or insecticide	from $12/acre	Bottomland row crops
Brush spot spraying	from $20/acre	Fence rows and draws, higher volume

Product is billed separately, or the rancher supplies it. Texas drone rates are about $12 per acre typical for 2026, and regional operators publish rates from $11–15. AgriLife's 2026 custom rate survey puts manned aerial herbicide at $9.27 in the North region and $11.67 in the East, with East Texas brush work at $23.20. Pricing depends on water volume, brush density, timber edges, power lines and travel distance. There is a 25-acre billing minimum per visit.

Red River County ranch and hay numbers

Measure	Red River County, TX (2022 Census)
Farms / land in farms	1,041 farms / 482,116 acres
Average farm size	463 acres
Market value of sales	$99.7M, 68th in Texas
Livestock share	91%
Cattle and calves	78,680 head
Pasture / cropland / woodland	257,940 / 123,885 / 77,807 acres
Hay and haylage	52,833 acres
Soybeans / wheat	3,509 / 2,196 acres

Directory pages lead with soybeans, but the census shows a cattle and hay county. More than half of farmland is pasture, and hay covers 15 times more ground than soybeans. Most drone work in Red River County is weed and insect control on grass.

Bermudagrass stem maggot in hay meadows

Bermudagrass stem maggot has been in Texas since 2013. It attacks bermudagrass and stargrass, and every 1% of damaged stems costs about 8.9 pounds of hay per acre. Texas A&M AgriLife recommends a pyrethroid about 7 days after cutting, then a second pass 5–7 days later if pressure is heavy. AgriLife's worked example puts the treatment threshold near 16% damaged stems, at $12-per-acre insecticide and $140-per-ton hay. The timing is tight and comes right after each cutting. A drone treats the regrowth without running over the windrows or fresh stubble.

Fall armyworm after a dry spell

Fall armyworms can strip a hayfield overnight, and outbreaks often follow a dry spell broken by rain. The treatment threshold is three or more larvae per square foot. Scout early in the morning or late in the evening, when larvae are active. Same-day drone treatment after scouting saves the next cutting.

Winter pasture weed timing

AgriLife's forage specialists recommend treating winter weeds before they flower:

Weed	Treat when	Options
Buttercup	Late February–early March, before bloom	2,4-D, metsulfuron, GrazonNext HL, Weedmaster
Groundsel	Rosette stage, around March	Metsulfuron products
Thistles	Rosette stage	Grazon P+D, GrazonNext HL, Weedmaster
Dandelion	Rosette stage	2,4-D or Weedmaster

On dormant bermudagrass, glyphosate is also an option for buttercup. A late-winter drone pass catches these weeds while the warm-season grass is still asleep, so the grass faces less competition when it greens up.

Smutgrass in bahiagrass and bermudagrass

Smutgrass is a bunchgrass that cattle avoid once it heads. It spreads by seed through pastures and hay meadows. Texas A&M has studied hexazinone and seasonal timing for smutgrass control, and AgriLife's 2025 pasture weed guide lists current options. Because smutgrass usually grows in scattered clumps, mapped spot spraying by drone can cut product use compared with a broadcast pass.

Ag drone spraying vs. ground rig or airplane in Red River County

• Ground rigs struggle on wet bottomland near the Red River and in pastures broken up by ponds, timber and draws.
• Airplanes need large open blocks. Much Red River County pasture is wrapped in post oak and pine, so spraying from airplane height means more drift risk near the trees and homes.
• Drones fly 8–15 feet above the grass, follow rolling ground, and can switch between broadcast and spot treatment within the same pasture.

Regulated-herbicide rules on the county lines

Red River County is not a TDA regulated-herbicide county under 4 TAC §7.53, and neither are Bowie, Titus or Franklin. Two neighbors to the west and southwest are different. In the regulated portion of Lamar County, and in all of Delta County, aerial application of regulated herbicides is banned from April 15 to September 1. Fields near Deport, which straddles the Lamar line, need a check of which county the field sits in before any 2,4-D or similar product goes on by drone.

Red River, lakes and Clarksville airport

The Red River forms the county's northern border with Oklahoma, and the bottomland along it is the county's main row-crop ground. Ponds, creeks and lakes run through most pastures. Spraying near water follows label setbacks, and products are checked for aquatic restrictions first. Texas is a FieldWatch state, so operators check DriftWatch and BeeCheck for registered crops and apiaries before every flight.

Clarksville/Red River County Airport, J D Trissell Field, sits about 3 miles southwest of town. It has a 3,000-foot runway and no tower. Paris's Cox Field is about 19 nautical miles west.

TDA licensing for drone applicators

The Texas Department of Agriculture requires a license to apply restricted-use, state-limited-use or regulated herbicides by drone. Commercial and noncommercial applicators add the aerial category, Category 9, to a use category. For Red River County work, that is usually 1A (field crops, including hay) or 1C (pasture and rangeland weeds). Category 9 cannot stand alone. Three of the required continuing education credits must cover laws and regulations, drift minimization and human safety. The label must not prohibit aerial application. Operators also need FAA Part 107, a Part 137 certificate, and a Section 44807 exemption for drones over 55 pounds.