Cost comparison · with receipts
Drone vs ground rig vs plane: what crop spraying costs per acre
In 4 US state surveys from 2026, hiring a drone to spray averaged $12.50–$15.17 per acre, a ground rig $8.57–$12.59 and an airplane or helicopter $10.11–$14.84 (chemicals not included). In every survey that asked about both, a ground rig was the cheapest way to have a field sprayed. Where a survey asked about drones and planes, they cost within a dollar per acre of each other.
Drone
$12.50–$15.17
survey averages per acre · 3 survey rows · 95 responses
Ground rig
$8.57–$12.59
survey averages per acre · 7 survey rows · 641 responses
Plane or helicopter
$10.11–$14.84
survey averages per acre · 4 survey rows · 186 responses
The range of the survey averages below, not a price anyone will quote you.
Same survey, side by side
Each state survey asked the same people about each method in the same year, which makes this the fairest comparison we can show. Bars show the published range, the tick shows the average.
- Drone$12.50 $8.00–$16.00 · n=47
- Ground rig$9.35 $5.00–$18.00 · n=121
- Plane or helicopter$12.00 $9.00–$18.00 · n=54
- Drone$14.98 $8.00–$20.00 · n=42
- Ground rig self-propelled$10.63 $5.00–$25.00 · n=105
- pull-type$10.22 $7.00–$12.50 · n=16
- high-clearance, late season$12.59 $5.00–$30.00 · n=38
- Plane or helicopter$14.84 $11.00–$20.00 · n=40
- Dronenot asked in this survey
- Ground rig herbicide$8.57 $5.00–$18.00 · n=196
- insecticide or fungicide$8.74 $5.00–$20.00 · n=136
- Plane or helicopter herbicide$10.11 $7.50–$16.00 · n=44
- insecticide or fungicide$10.23 $7.00–$13.50 · n=48
- Drone$15.17 $13.00–$20.00 · n=6
- Ground rig$9.85 $7.00–$12.50 · n=29
- Plane or helicopternot asked in this survey
published range average
Iowa: drone $12.50 vs cheapest ground rig $9.35, $3.15 (34%) more per acre. Ohio: drone $14.98 vs cheapest ground rig $10.22, $4.76 (47%) more per acre. Nebraska: drone $15.17 vs cheapest ground rig $9.85, $5.32 (54%) more per acre.
Bot or Not? Drone or not?
Hire a drone when
- The field is small, oddly shaped or hilly, so a big sprayer wastes time turning
- The ground is too wet for a sprayer and you can't wait
- You only need to treat patches or field edges, not the whole field
- Nobody with a ground rig or a plane can come in time
Hire a ground rig or a plane when
- The field is big, flat and dry: ground was the cheapest per acre in every survey here
- You have thousands of acres in a short window: ask a plane operator too, it cost about the same per acre
- Your label or local rules don't allow drone application for that product
- You already own a sprayer and have the time to run it
Who this is not for: anyone outside the US (we don't have sourced ground or aircraft rates elsewhere yet) and anyone who sprays with their own equipment, because these are hire rates, not ownership costs.
Receipts: 14 survey rates
| Survey | Method (survey wording) | Average | Range | n | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio Ohio Farm Custom Rates 2026 | Ground rig Spraying - Self Propelled Sprayer / acre | $10.63 per acre | $5.00–$25.00 lowest–highest reported | 105 | farmoffice.osu.edu as of 2026-08-04 |
| Ohio Ohio Farm Custom Rates 2026 | Ground rig Spraying - Pull-Type Sprayer / acre | $10.22 per acre | $7.00–$12.50 lowest–highest reported | 16 | farmoffice.osu.edu as of 2026-08-04 |
| Ohio Ohio Farm Custom Rates 2026 | Ground rig Spraying Late Season (High Clearance) / acre | $12.59 per acre | $5.00–$30.00 lowest–highest reported | 38 | farmoffice.osu.edu as of 2026-08-04 |
| Ohio Ohio Farm Custom Rates 2026 | Plane or helicopter Aerial Application - Airplane/Helicopter: Chemical (Fungicide etc.) / acre | $14.84 per acre | $11.00–$20.00 lowest–highest reported | 40 | farmoffice.osu.edu as of 2026-08-04 |
| Ohio Ohio Farm Custom Rates 2026 | Drone Aerial Application - Drone/UAV: Chemical (Fungicide etc.) / acre | $14.98 per acre | $8.00–$20.00 lowest–highest reported | 42 | farmoffice.osu.edu as of 2026-08-04 |
| Nebraska 2026 Nebraska Agricultural Custom Rates Report | Ground rig Spraying Weed Control, self-propelled sprayer, rate per acre | $9.85 per acre | $7.00–$12.50 lowest–highest reported | 29 | cap.unl.edu as of 2026-04-24 |
| Nebraska 2026 Nebraska Agricultural Custom Rates Report | Drone Crop Spraying by Drone of Fungicides, Insecticides, and/or Herbicides, rate per acre | $15.17 per acre | $13.00–$20.00 lowest–highest reported | 6 | cap.unl.edu as of 2026-04-24 |
| Kansas Kansas Custom Rates 2026 | Ground rig Herbicide application, ground rig ($/acre), state | $8.57 per acre | $5.00–$18.00 range as published | 196 | agmanager.info as of 2026-05-08 |
| Kansas Kansas Custom Rates 2026 | Plane or helicopter Herbicide application, aerial ($/acre), state | $10.11 per acre | $7.50–$16.00 range as published | 44 | agmanager.info as of 2026-05-08 |
| Kansas Kansas Custom Rates 2026 | Ground rig Insecticide/fungicide application, ground rig ($/acre), state | $8.74 per acre | $5.00–$20.00 range as published | 136 | agmanager.info as of 2026-05-08 |
| Kansas Kansas Custom Rates 2026 | Plane or helicopter Insecticide/fungicide application, aerial ($/acre), state | $10.23 per acre | $7.00–$13.50 range as published | 48 | agmanager.info as of 2026-05-08 |
| Iowa 2026 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey (A3-10) | Ground rig Ground, broadcast, not incorporated, self-propelled / acre | $9.35 per acre | $5.00–$18.00 excludes the single lowest and highest | 121 | farmratebook.com as of 2026-10-27 read on farmratebook.com, which links the survey page |
| Iowa 2026 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey (A3-10) | Plane or helicopter Aerial / acre | $12.00 per acre | $9.00–$18.00 excludes the single lowest and highest | 54 | farmratebook.com as of 2026-10-27 read on farmratebook.com, which links the survey page |
| Iowa 2026 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey (A3-10) | Drone Drone / acre | $12.50 per acre | $8.00–$16.00 excludes the single lowest and highest | 47 | farmratebook.com as of 2026-10-27 read on farmratebook.com, which links the survey page |
Also in our dataset: 2 more US drone spraying rates
- $13.00 per acre · US average custom drone spray rate, 2025 (down from $21 in 2024) — American Spray Drone Coalition survey · americanspraydronecoalition.com as of 2026-01
- $16.00 per acre · Typical custom hire rate for drone spray application (vs ~$12.50/acre crop duster) — University of Missouri Extension · extension.missouri.edu as of 2025-03
Read this before you compare
- These are survey averages of what farmers and custom operators reported charging or paying, not quotes.
- Chemicals are not included. Fuel and the operator are included unless the survey says otherwise.
- Each method was rated by a different number of people (n). A handful of answers, like Nebraska's drone row, can move a lot next year.
- Surveys define ranges differently (see the Range column). Nothing here is converted, adjusted for inflation or scaled.
Why this page exists (and others don't)
We only publish a comparison when every side has at least 2 sourced, dated prices. This one has 5 drone, 7 ground-rig and 4 aircraft rates.
We have drone spraying rates for 20 other countries but no sourced ground-rig or aircraft rate for them yet, so there is no comparison page for: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Vietnam.
Next steps
Cite this page
Whirrwork (2026). Drone vs ground rig vs plane: what crop spraying costs per acre. https://whirrwork.com/compare/drone-vs-ground-rig-vs-plane-spraying/ (accessed 2026-10-27)
Machine-readable: /compare/drone-vs-ground-rig-vs-plane-spraying.json · CC BY 4.0