Fly The Farm Drone Services
Finger Lakes NY · family-owned, NYS DEC certified pesticide applicator
Stated by the operator, not checked by us
Family-owned drone services business founded 2024 in Canandaigua, NY (Finger Lakes region) by Christian Smith, Don Burkard and Hana Smith. Jay Franklin serves as NYS DEC certified pesticide applicator (Category 11) with 12+ years experience. Christian Smith is a mechanical engineer. Covers NY statewide.
Operations are based in the Southeast region.
Services offered
Pricing context for the crops Fly The Farm services
Typical 2026 per-acre rates for drone spraying by crop, based on US ag drone industry data. Contact the operator for a quote on your specific fields.
- Drone spraying for corn$12 to $18 per acre
- Drone spraying for grapes / vineyards$18 to $30 per acre
- Drone spraying for orchards$20 to $35 per acre
- Drone spraying for cover crops$12 to $18 per acre
Crops serviced
Equipment used
Certifications & compliance
The operator told us each of these. Anything we matched against a public record is shown with the date we checked it, at the top of this page.
States served (1)
Aerial pesticide licensing in states served
Every state requires a pesticide applicator license with the aerial category endorsement on top of FAA Part 137. The agencies that issue these licenses in Fly The Farm's service area:
- New York — aerial pesticide work runs through New York State DEC under Category 11: Aerial Application.
Full agency, exam and renewal-cycle details by state are catalogued on the state pesticide licensing reference.
Verify and resources
Primary-source references for verifying credentials and looking up state-specific rules in Fly The Farm's service area.
Frequently asked questions
Fly The Farm Drone Services should carry three credentials before any commercial pesticide application by drone in New York: an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate for the pilot in command, an FAA Part 137 Agricultural Aircraft Operator Certificate for the business, and a state aerial-category pesticide applicator license. In New York the state credential is issued by New York State DEC; you can ask the operator for the applicator license number and verify it with the agency directly. A current certificate of insurance with chemical drift coverage and the operator's Section 44807 exemption number are reasonable to request alongside the license itself.
Typical drone spraying rates of $12 to $35 per acre in the region typically covers the application itself: drone calibration, GPS-guided mission planning, mixing and loading product into the tank, the labor and machine time to fly the field, and a written FIFRA Part 170 application record (date, time, product, EPA reg number, rate, weather, field ID). Pesticide product, surfactants and adjuvants are usually supplied by the farmer and excluded from the per-acre rate. Common surcharges include long travel past the operator's standard radius, after-hours or emergency turnaround, fields with steep terrain or significant obstructions, and minimum-acreage charges below a stated field size. Get inclusions and exclusions in writing before any application.