Spraying by plane

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MurraysMutts

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N. Central boonies, Oklahoma
For Pete's sake!!
Why didn't someone tell me hiring an airplane was so reasonable!
I've been fighting thistle forever it seems. Spent way more time and money than what I'm gonna hire this airplane for. I'll even have him hit the other pasture as a preventive.

$18.20 an acre.

Gonna have to hit it again next year for sure.

I hope the results are satisfactory!
 
I didn't imagine it being so reasonable priced. Surely that didn't include the chemicals.
Yes sir!
Just Grazon.
With the price of chemical I was expecting more.
Then he started talking of when he started it was about 4 bucks an acre!

Thistle is bolting so I'm a bit late. But I'll get the others that are in the first year and heit everything again next year. That should make a HUGE dent in the population!

He is gonna hit several spots in this area. So I guess that helps on his costs. Full tanks on the plane and a full paid trip
 
Helicopter spraying is competitive with plane because their supply tanker goes to the site and they don't have to ferry back and forth to the airport. Plus, they can do more of a spot spray for patchy infestations rather than having to lay down strips.
 
Best I remember, the last Grazon Next that I purchased a couple years ago was $95 for a 2 gallon jug. That is about $12 per quart. I can't imagine it is cheaper now. Usually use one quart per acre in early spring when weeds are small. Need a little surfactant as well. I can't figure out how that $18.20 per acre including the herbicide cost is going to work out for him.
Spraying pastures with a plane would be a risky occupation here with the irregular shapes of small pastures here and all the obstructions - trees and power lines. Not to mention the nearby crop guys that do not have "Grazon ready" beans that might take offense.
 
Very reasonable priced. Wouldn't work here in the mountains but interesting.
You'd be surprised where those guys can take those crop dusters into. Really steep mountains probably not but take a look at some of the Palouse region crop dusting videos, they get down in the canyons pretty far. Makes a guy poop a little when he gets buzzed by one coming out of a draw, combine on the next ridge, up in the engine compartment servicing in the morning and you swear you could touch the tires when he goes over. Ask me how I know. Haha.
Best I remember, the last Grazon Next that I purchased a couple years ago was $95 for a 2 gallon jug. That is about $12 per quart. I can't imagine it is cheaper now. Usually use one quart per acre in early spring when weeds are small. Need a little surfactant as well. I can't figure out how that $18.20 per acre including the herbicide cost is going to work out for him.
Spraying pastures with a plane would be a risky occupation here with the irregular shapes of small pastures here and all the obstructions - trees and power lines. Not to mention the nearby crop guys that do not have "Grazon ready" beans that might take offense.
He may have a dealer license, markup doesn't get passed along like when you're on the receiving end of the product chain. The plane is usually the last option for guys around here. Sometimes we'll get behind and instead of trampling over the wheat we'll have it flown, or just flat don't have the time if other things are more pressing. I think we're in the $8-9 dollar range per acre then provide the chemical.
 
Best I remember, the last Grazon Next that I purchased a couple years ago was $95 for a 2 gallon jug. That is about $12 per quart. I can't imagine it is cheaper now. Usually use one quart per acre in early spring when weeds are small. Need a little surfactant as well. I can't figure out how that $18.20 per acre including the herbicide cost is going to work out for him.
Spraying pastures with a plane would be a risky occupation here with the irregular shapes of small pastures here and all the obstructions - trees and power lines. Not to mention the nearby crop guys that do not have "Grazon ready" beans that might take offense.
Grazon Next is currently about $135 for 2 gallons here.
 
For Pete's sake!!
Why didn't someone tell me hiring an airplane was so reasonable!
I've been fighting thistle forever it seems. Spent way more time and money than what I'm gonna hire this airplane for. I'll even have him hit the other pasture as a preventive.

$18.20 an acre.

Gonna have to hit it again next year for sure.

I hope the results are satisfactory!
Thistle….appears to me I get better control spraying later than early. Sure spraying early gets this years crop (maybe before making seed), but next years hasn't completely germinated yet. Seems those are the ones to get to break the cycle.

I don't know how much spraying late came into play last year, but between a rainy May/June I was spraying weeds in July/August. I have very few weeds and almost no thistle this year. But a dryer Fall and Spring may have contributed to that also. However, I do have a bumper crop of clover so at some point I had enough moisture.
 
There is a lot of trees but it's gotta be better than what I'm doing.
With aerial spraying chemical drift is a huge concern, you may not have so many trees next year.
The insurance gets expensive for aerial spraying because the claim amounts paid out because of wiping out someone's entire field of crops. In my area there's not so many crops but I know of around $70,000 worth of claims paid out for killing trees. The agriculture department comes out to investigate and take samples of leaves from the trees to test for chemical residues.
Only ground spray rigs at my place.
 
For Pete's sake!!
Why didn't someone tell me hiring an airplane was so reasonable!
I've been fighting thistle forever it seems. Spent way more time and money than what I'm gonna hire this airplane for. I'll even have him hit the other pasture as a preventive.

$18.20 an acre.

Gonna have to hit it again next year for sure.

I hope the results are satisfactory!
Just wanted to touch base and see if you were happy with the results from aerial spraying. I am considering this next spring. Thanks
 
Just wanted to touch base and see if you were happy with the results from aerial spraying. I am considering this next spring. Thanks
Very!
This year we attacked the musk thistle early. Eradicated it!!
NO thistle this year and it got SOME of the other crap too.

Next year I'm gonna have em spray a bit later and hit some of the other undesirable stuff. We hit the thistle early as some were bolting already. Unfortunately, that left a little of the later blooming stuff.
 
Very!
This year we attacked the musk thistle early. Eradicated it!!
NO thistle this year and it got SOME of the other crap too.

Next year I'm gonna have em spray a bit later and hit some of the other undesirable stuff. We hit the thistle early as some were bolting already. Unfortunately, that left a little of the later blooming stuff.
Do you have any drone spraying outfits near you?
 
We were supposed to have ours sprayed last Spring, but the weather conditions didn't cooperate. Goes back to what J+Cattle was saying. Even using a drift control agent, it was too windy to risk, even though any neighbor remotely close with cattle was okay with it. The only other property that is close is recreational (guy lives out of town & only uses it to hunt occasionally). A qualified pilot/sprayer doesn't want a lawsuit. Thought about spraying in the Fall but waiting until next Spring. That said, our FSA does cost share for spraying and we're working with a local agent that has been out numerous times and identified the specific weeds, brush, trees, etc. to target, along with a recommendation what to use.

We've already paid for the chemicals:
$485.00 for AirLink (2x2.5) Drift Control Agent
$2081.25 for Triclopyr 4 (2x2.5) Herbicide
$1228.13 for 2,4-D LV6 Alligare Herbicide
$1159.00 cost share FSA
$2880.13 our total. So far!

I'm not actually sure how many acres that covers. The pilot has a map of the property and specific areas to target, making sure to stay away from water sources.
 

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