Drone Spraying in La Plata County, CO for Hay, Pasture and Weeds

Drone spraying prices in La Plata County

Drone spraying in La Plata County, CO is billed per acre, per pass, application only. Colorado drone rates run about $8–18 per acre, with $12 typical in 2026, and one operator listed for the area quotes $15–20. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Alfalfa and grass hay	from $11/acre	Weevil, broadleaf weeds
Pasture weeds	from $12/acre	Thistles, knapweed, spurge
Noxious weed patches	from $14/acre	Small parcels, ditch banks
Pasture reseeding	from $14/acre	Seed billed separately

Fields under 10 acres are billed as 10 acres, and neighbors can share a trip. Product is billed separately. Quotes reflect field size, ditches and rivers nearby, trust land and the spray volume on the label.

Hay, cattle and small parcels

La Plata County had 1,131 farms on 529,782 acres in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, with $33.1 million in sales split evenly between crops and livestock. Net cash farm income was negative that year, at about −$2.8 million, so input costs matter on every job.

Land or livestock	2022
Hay and haylage	38,625 acres
Irrigated land	64,660 acres
Pasture	316,099 acres
Cattle	16,202 head
Sheep	6,482 head
Horses	3,123 head

Alfalfa and other hay cover about 18,900 acres on 221 farms, while wheat covers only about 1,070. Half of farms run under 50 acres and 78% under 180, so drone spraying in La Plata County is mostly hay meadows, horse pastures and small irrigated parcels.

The Pine River Project and Vallecito

Vallecito Dam, built by the Bureau of Reclamation from 1938 to 1941, holds 129,700 acre-feet on the Los Pinos, which locals call the Pine River. The Pine River Irrigation District supplies supplemental water to about 45,000 acres, and about 16,000 of the project's roughly 69,000 acres are Southern Ute land. East of Durango, Lemon Reservoir feeds the Florida River, which joins the Animas on the reservation. Operators map ditches, laterals and rivers as no-spray zones and use only products labeled for use near water.

The Animas after Gold King

On August 5, 2015, about 3 million gallons of mine waste from the Gold King Mine reached the Animas River. Pollutant levels at Durango were back to pre-spill readings by August 11, the river reopened on August 14, and downstream Navajo irrigators held off on Animas water. Valley growers have watched what reaches the river closely ever since, which is one more reason drone crews keep buffers along the Animas and its ditches.

Weed cost-share for landowners

The La Plata Conservation District and the county run a noxious weed cost-share funded by the Colorado Department of Agriculture. It reimburses 50% of herbicide costs, up to $600 per landowner, $1,000 per HOA and $1,200 per ditch company. Landowners need a county weed management plan unless a Colorado-licensed professional does the work, and invoices must list herbicide on its own line. Every drone job comes with an itemized invoice and an application record for the claim.

Knapweed, spurge and toadflax

Leafy spurge, Russian knapweed, oxeye daisy, yellow toadflax, musk thistle, houndstongue, Canada thistle and spotted and diffuse knapweed are all on Colorado's List B. Local weed staff have reported Russian knapweed spreading in western La Plata County, where it is poisonous to livestock, leafy spurge establishing in the south and yellow toadflax moving through canyons. For musk thistle, the county advised treating rosettes in September and October rather than spraying flowering plants in summer, which disrupts the seed-head weevils released for biocontrol.

Alfalfa weevil

CSU sets the alfalfa weevil threshold at about 20 larvae per sweep or 1.5–2 larvae per stem, with larvae mostly active in May and June and yield losses that can reach 30–40%. Resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin is widespread in the West, so CSU names other modes of action. Cutting 7–10 days early is the other option when first cutting is close.

Southern Ute Indian Reservation

The Southern Ute Indian Reservation covers about 1,059 square miles, most of it in La Plata County, with headquarters in Ignacio. The 1895 Hunter Act opened much of it to settlement, so tribal, trust and private land are mixed together. Rules on tribal land may be enforced by the Tribe or by EPA, which approved a federal certification plan for Indian country in 2023. Operators confirm Tribal and EPA requirements before any job on trust land.

The Old Fort at Hesperus

The Old Fort at Hesperus, 16 miles southwest of Durango, is managed by Fort Lewis College and runs a beginning-farmer program, a farm incubator, a ranching apprenticeship and workshops on growing at elevation. CSU Extension's La Plata County office in Durango adds local agronomy and weed guidance.

A La Plata County spray season

Window	Typical drone work
May to June	Alfalfa weevil before first cutting
June	Leafy spurge and knapweed in pasture
Summer	Toadflax and spot work on ditch banks
September to October	Musk thistle and Russian knapweed

Licensing and airspace

Commercial drone applicators hold a Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) commercial applicator license, and the business holds an FAA Part 137 certificate with Part 107 pilots. Durango–La Plata County Airport sits about 12 miles southeast of Durango at 6,685 feet, so crews check airspace for fields on Florida Mesa and nearby.