SweetWater Franchise (Nathan Janz)
SweetWater Technologies franchise partner operating in Illinois under parent company support.
SweetWater Franchise (Nathan Janz) provides drone pesticide and fungicide spraying and aerial cover crop seeding for Corn and Soybeans across Illinois. From a Tonica base, the crew covers Illinois growers inside the Corn Belt region. Commercial drone applicators in Illinois need FAA Part 137 plus an aerial category endorsement on a state pesticide applicator license issued by Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA).
Operations are based in the Corn Belt region.
Services offered
Pricing context for the crops SweetWater Franchise (Nathan Janz) 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 soybeans$12 to $18 per acre
Crops serviced
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 SweetWater Franchise (Nathan Janz)'s service area:
- Illinois — requires Aerial General Standards (replaces Core exam) + site categories for aerial pesticide application; the licensing authority is Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA).
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 SweetWater Franchise (Nathan Janz)'s service area.
Frequently asked questions
Verifying SweetWater Franchise (Nathan Janz) runs through three independent checks: Part 107 via the FAA Airmen Inquiry, Part 137 via the issuing FAA Flight Standards office, and the state aerial-category pesticide applicator license via the receiving state's department of agriculture. In Illinois the state credential is issued by Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA); you can ask the operator for the applicator license number and verify it with the agency directly. Pair that with a current chemical-drift COI and the Section 44807 exemption number for due diligence.
Typical drone spraying rates of $12 to $18 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.