Every now and then on Technology Corner we like to spotlight farmers who are using some of the precision technology we cover on the program. Today we’re catching up with southern Iowa farmer Mark Dobson, who’s using the 360 RAIN autonomous irrigation and nutrient application system for the first time in his organic strip-till operation. 

“I’m doing part of my nutrients with it now. That kind of changes my organic world and I think in the future I will be able to seed cover crops with it during the season, so all my crops will have something growing when I’m done. 

“I did not get mine into the field until late this year, so I did not get to run it all season, but I did get to make some manure passes on my organic corn and it’s kind of incredible to be able to have access to your field from the time you plant it until harvest with not just water but nutrients. It’s going to make the research part of my head spin because there’s so many different things that I want to try and do with that I don’t know where the end of that is or isn’t.” 

Dobson farms about 420 organic soybean, corn and wheat acres. He’s also a custom strip-tiller. We’ll check back in with him next growing season to see how it’s going with 360 Rain.