The growing practice of strip-till farming presents an opportunity for dealerships and their precision departments to establish authority and increase revenue. As the results of the 2022 Strip-Till Operational Practices Benchmark Study reveal, most strip-tillers are using and investing in precision.7-8-22_Slides_OTR4.png

Most of the respondents to the 2022 Strip-Till Benchmark Study farm in the U.S. About 63% farm in the Corn Belt, followed by about 21% in the Plains/West. About 44% of strip-tillers who took the 2022 survey are farming 1,000 acres or less.RTK.png

Most surveyed strip-tillers are using RTK guidance for strip-till. About 76% of respondents indicated RTK is their primary type of GPS correction signal, a slight increase from the 74.6% reporting using RTK in 2021.7-8-22_Slides_OTR6.png

The most popular guidance brand among respondents is John Deere at 41.2%, followed by Trimble, Ag Leader and Case IH. More than 97% of this year’s survey respondents use at least one of these brands. DigiFarm rounds out the top 5 most popular guidance brands in 2022.7-8-22_Slides_OTR7.png

About 69% of strip-tillers do not use implement guidance, continuing an 8-year decline in usage. However, nearly 40% of this year’s survey respondents say they plan to buy implement guidance technology in the next year, a 4.5% increase compared to 2021 projections.7-8-22_Slides_OTR8.png

Variable-rate seeding (VRS) and variable-rate fertilizer application (VRA) technologies are higher on strip-tillers’ purchase wish lists. About 56% bought or planned to buy VRA products in 2022, and 50% bought or planned to buy VRS technology this year.

In 2021, 42.2% of strip-tillers used VRS for corn, while 52.2% did not. The remaining 5.6% didn’t use VRS for corn in 2021 but planned to in 2022. Approximately 34% of respondents said they used a variable rate when applying fertilizer with their strip-till rig in 2021, compared to about 28% in 2020. An additional 5% of strip-tillers plan to start using variable-rate application for fertilizer next year.7-8-22_Slides_OTR15.png

Other popular precision ag products planned for purchase in 2022 include ag data management service and support, drones, remote precision service and support, and irrigation/pivot control systems.

If you’d like deeper insights into the results of the Strip-Till Operational Benchmark Study, join the editors of Ag Equipment Intelligence and Strip-Till Farmer July 28-29 in Iowa City at the 9th annual National Strip-Tillage Conference.

The National Strip-Tillage Conference offers a collaborative environment for farmers, ag equipment dealers and anybody else interested in learning about the growing strip-tillage market to come together to network, share successful strategies and solve common challenges. On the Record viewers can receive an exclusive $50 discount on their registration by entering code OTR at StripTillConference.com.

Additional insights are also available on the Strip-Till Farmer website.