Strip-tillers continue to be heavy users of precision technology, according to Strip-Till Farmer's 12th annual Strip-Till Benchmark Survey. Notably, 89% of strip-tillers who responded to the survey will use GPS tractor auto-steer in 2025, 74% will use yield monitor data analysis and 68% will use field mapping — up 7% from 2023. The survey also found that 65% will use auto-boom/nozzle shutoffs — up 5.6% from 2024 — and 63% will use auto-seed shutoff — up 2.1% from 2023.

Adam Gittins, farmer and president of precision technology dealer HTS Ag in Harlan, Iowa, made the case for wide-spread adoption of farm technology at the 2024 National Strip-Tillage Conference. Using a “fictional 1,000-acre farm” example with data from real on-farm trials, he showed how a $122,000 investment in precision technology can yield a 95% ROI after just one year.

“You get one chance to plant, and planting has to be right, or you lose money,” Gittins told attendees. “If there’s one takeaway from this project, it’s put money into your planter because it represents one of the quickest paybacks in all of the technology investments.”

Regarding specific plans, 52% of survey respondents plan on using variable-rate fertility in 2025, 45% will use satellite aerial imagery, 35% will use GPS implement guidance and 23% will use drones. Of those using drones, 36% use them for scouting crops, 23.2% for applying fungicides, 20.3% for seeding cover crops, and 13% for applying herbicides or insecticides. 

Survey respondents spent an average of just over $5,000 on precision technology services and equipment in 2024 and plan to spend slightly more — an average of $5,157 — in 2025.

Pete Youngblut, strip-tiller and owner of precision ag dealer Youngblut Ag in Dysart, Iowa, reminds his customers to take a hard look at the potential return on investment and practicality of new technologies before buying them.

“Some stuff is nice. I’ve got a truck. I made sure it has leather seats because I have a 7-year-old that makes a hell of a mess. I got a significant return out of those leather seats,” Youngblut says. “But did I need the sunroof that came with it? It’s cool and the wife likes it, but I don’t see any return on it. That’s what we want to look at. I’m going to get a return from a good metering system. I’m going to get a return from making sure I’m on the strip instead of off to the side.”

Fully 94% of strip-tillers used some form of GPS correction signal in 2024. Satellite-based RTK (real-time kinematic) positioning was the most popular choice, with 42% using it as their primary GPS correction signal in 2024. 25% used land-based RTK, while 20% used cellular-based RTK — down 5% from 2023. Additionally, 7% used WAAS as their primary correction signal.