Aerial scouting for pest pressure, disease outbreaks, storm damage, and stand issues.
Drone scouting covers more ground faster than walking fields on foot. Operators fly systematic patterns to identify pest infestations (corn rootworm, soybean aphids, spider mites), disease outbreaks (tar spot, white mold, head scab), weed escapes (waterhemp, Palmer amaranth), hail and wind damage, herbicide injury, and emergence issues. High-resolution photos with GPS coordinates let you pinpoint problem areas and respond with targeted treatment instead of blanket-spraying entire fields.
Washington orchards & wheat · 3 drones
Pacific Northwest Ag Drone services apple and cherry orchards, wheat fields, and hop yards across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. We navigate steep hillside orchards where ground equipment cannot operate and deliver precise fungicide applications for powdery mildew and fire blight control. Available March through October for orchard programs.
A drone covers 200 to 400 acres per hour with full visual coverage. On-foot scouting covers 20 to 50 acres per hour with spot checks. Drones identify problems earlier and across the entire field, not just sample points, catching outbreaks before they spread across the whole operation.
Early season stand count flights work best at V2 to V4 stage (2 to 3 weeks after planting). Mid-season health assessments target V8 to VT for corn and R2 to R3 for soybeans. Pre-harvest flights document conditions for insurance and record-keeping.
There is 1 operator offering crop scouting drone services in Idaho: Pacific Northwest Ag Drone.