Drone Photos and Video for Farms and Acreage

From 400 feet up, a field tells you things you can't see from the cab or the road. Drowned-out spots, planter skips, wind and hail damage, weed patches and washouts all show up as patterns. A drone flight turns those patterns into dated photos and video you can keep, share with your agronomist or landlord, and compare from one year to the next.

What farmers book a drone for

• Stand and scouting overviews. A pass after emergence shows gaps and replant areas. Mid-season flights show where the crop is stressed before you walk to it.
• Wet spots and drainage planning. Fly a day or two after a heavy rain and the ponding is plain to see. Those photos help when you talk with a tiling contractor about where new lines should go.
• Storm damage records. After wind or hail, overhead photos show how much of a field is down or stripped. They're useful in conversations with your crop insurance agent; the adjuster still makes the call on any claim.
• Farmstead and acreage photos. Buildings, bins, lanes and field boundaries in one frame, for a sale listing, an appraisal file, or the family album.

What a standard flight is not

Most pilots deliver regular color photos and video. NDVI and other plant-health maps need a multispectral camera, and mapping a whole farm needs a grid-flight mapping setup. Both can be booked here; mention them in your request and we'll match you with a qualified pilot equipped for that work. Spraying is a different business altogether: dispensing chemicals from a drone requires an FAA Part 137 agricultural aircraft operator certificate and a state pesticide applicator license. We don't spray, and we'll say so up front.

Rules that matter on the farm

Paid flights are flown under FAA Part 107 by a certificated remote pilot. The pilot needs permission from the landowner or operator for every field. Manned crop-dusting aircraft fly low and fast in summer, and under Part 107 the drone always gives way to them; a good pilot watches and listens for them the whole flight. Some farms sit inside controlled airspace near regional airports, which means a LAANC authorization before takeoff.

How it works

1. Tell us the location, the fields or buildings, and what you want to see.
2. We confirm the airspace and pick a calm morning; early light shows texture in the crop best.
3. You get the photos and video, unedited originals included, usually within a few days.

Regular photo and video flights in Eastern Iowa are flown by Darin Chamberlin. Multispectral, mapping and all requests outside Eastern Iowa are fulfilled by a qualified local Part 107 pilot.

Typical farmers & agriculture prices (US, 2026)

These are typical prices pilots and customers report in the US as of October 2026. Real prices vary with location, airspace, travel, editing and pilot experience. They are estimates, not quotes.

Service	Typical US price	Sources
Aerial photo/video, hourly (marketplace data)	$102–$367/hr; most people pay about $125/hr	Thumbtack
Aerial photo/video, hourly (pro rates)	$150–$400/hr	DroneList, The Drone U
Hourly by pilot experience	Beginner $100–$200; intermediate $200–$350	Drone Pilot Ground School
Mapping (basic orthomosaic)	$10–$30/acre, plus a $500–$3,000 project minimum	Northern Drone
Mapping (engineering topo with ground control)	$50–$150/acre	Northern Drone

Prices are estimates. How we get them

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