Crop Spraying in Duval County, TX

Crop spraying and brush rates in Duval County

Crop spraying in Duval County, TX is quoted per acre for the application only; herbicide is billed separately or supplied by you. Texas A&M AgriLife's 2026 custom rate survey put aerial herbicide work in South Texas at an average of $11.72 per acre and aerial brush spraying at $13.43, while drone listings serving the county start at $12–15. Our rates:

Service	Typical rate	Notes
Armyworm and grasshopper insecticide	from $11/acre	Hay and improved pasture
Pasture broadleaf weed control	from $12/acre	Buffelgrass and native pasture
Mesquite leaf spray	from $16/acre	May–June window
Huisache broadcast	from $18/acre	Higher volume, multi-year plan
Prickly pear	from $20/acre	Slow flight, heavy coverage

Jobs under 40 acres are billed as 40 acres. Brush quotes depend on canopy density, tree height, spray volume and how far the crew hauls water on ranch roads. Most drone operators listed for Duval County are based more than 100 miles away, so we schedule ranches by area to keep travel out of your per-acre cost.

Rangeland, cattle and wildlife ranches

Duval County is brush country. The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 1.1 million acres in farms, with about 87% in pasture and rangeland and less than 4% in cropland. The average farm is 1,069 acres, cattle number about 33,700, and livestock bring in 87% of farm sales. Hay is the top crop at about 9,800 acres. Much of the land is also managed for white-tailed deer, quail, turkey and dove, so brush work has to balance grass for cattle with cover for wildlife.

When to spray mesquite

Ten years of AgriLife data on mesquite leaf sprays show that tree condition matters more than the calendar. Healthy, full-leafed, mature trees die best. Two-year mortality by month:

Spray month	Mesquite mortality
May	about 92%
June	about 86%
July	about 66%
August	about 68%
November	about 9%

The same research found no meaningful difference between spraying above or below a 75°F soil temperature. In South Texas the best window usually opens in late April or May, after the leaves have fully matured and while soil moisture is still good.

Brush sculpting for deer and quail

Not every shrub needs to go. Selective broadcast products based on clopyralid and aminopyralid kill mesquite while leaving most valuable wildlife browse standing. In South Texas trials, granjeno, coma, guayacan and whitebrush tolerated these treatments, and guajillo was only moderately affected.

A drone makes sculpting practical:

1. Map the pasture and mark the strips, mottes and draws you want to keep for cover.
2. Treat open grassland and brush-choked areas, and leave the marked cover alone.
3. Keep senderos and fence lines open with narrow passes along each edge.

Huisache and prickly pear

Huisache resprouts after shredding, so it needs a multi-year plan. Broadcast treatments typically combine aminopyralid + clopyralid with picloram, and programs usually plan two or three treatments over several years. Prickly pear is controlled with picloram-based products; pads die slowly over one to two years, so results are judged the second summer. Picloram products are restricted-use pesticides and must be applied by a licensed applicator.

Hay meadows and improved pasture

About 9,800 acres of Duval County are cut for hay, much of it in improved grasses such as buffelgrass and bermudagrass. These fields get different jobs than open rangeland:

• Broadleaf weeds such as croton, ragweed and broomweed, treated while plants are small and growing after rain.
• Fall armyworms after late-summer rains; AgriLife sets the threshold at 2–3 larvae of half an inch or longer per square foot.
• Grasshoppers moving in from rangeland edges in dry summers, treated on field borders before they spread inward.

Hay labels carry haying and grazing intervals, so tell the operator when you plan to cut before a product is chosen.

Pumpjacks, pipelines and ranch roads

Duval County has been oil country since the Freer booms of the late 1920s and 1930s, and many pastures carry pumpjacks, tank batteries, pipelines and power lines. Operators map every pad and line as an obstacle with a safety buffer, plan launch points along caliche roads, and haul water in a trailer tank so remote pastures do not need a nearby well.

Working with South Texas heat and rainfall

Duval County averages about 26 inches of rain a year, and July highs average around 97°F. That shapes how and when spray jobs are done:

• Spray when plants are actively growing. Drought-stressed brush and weeds take up less herbicide, so jobs follow good rains.
• Fly early. Most flights run from first light to late morning, before heat and wind build.
• Plan follow-ups. Brush control is judged over one to two growing seasons, with spot treatment of survivors.

Texas licensing for drone application

The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) licenses drone applicators. A commercial operator holds a TDA Commercial Applicator license with the Aerial Application category plus a use category such as Pasture and Rangeland. Restricted-use products like picloram require a licensed applicator. Duval County is not on TDA's list of regulated-herbicide counties. The FAA requires Part 107, Part 137 and, for drones of 55 pounds or more, a Section 44807 exemption.