In 2010, Doug Gronau — who farms with his son, Greg, and wife, Judy — decided to give row clutches and auto-steer a spin on his hilly Iowa farm.

Deeper rooting corn and reduced fertilizer usage where the main goals when Floyd Koerner III and his father, Floyd Jr., made the switch from no-till to strip-till in 2004. It was also an opportunity for them to start variable-rate application of their spring potash, potassium and nitrogen.

There was no dabbling in precision technology for Bill Darrington. He researched, observed, picked the right system and jumped in with both feet. An AgLeader system allowed him to install and control row clutches or section shutoffs on his Kinze planters, Blu-Jet fertilizer applicator and Hagie sprayer and serve as a yield monitor on his Lexion combine.

Cameron Mills has been collecting yield data with his John Deere combine for years and has now put that data to work saving him money.

For Michael and the rest of the team at Windy Lane Farms, the goal is to maximize production on every acre. And they rely on a bevy of precision technology to accomplish that feat.

Uniformity and input savings have driven Nathan Lykins’ investment in precision technology. He started with just a yield monitor, built to boom shutoffs on their sprayer and now uses row clutches and hydraulic drives on their planter and variable rate fertilizer application.

Long relying on yield monitors, grain cart scales and visual cues such as angled row ends when planting crops, in 2011 Marion Calmer invested in Case IH WAAS Accuguide auto-steer.

Ray McCormick’s goal is achieving healthy, functioning soils through never-till, cover crops, nutrient management and technology.

Once a dealership owner himself and now a full-time farmer, Bob Bottens has gotten to view precision technology from both sides of the tractor door.

Chris Breen, who farms with his father, Pat, is in charge of most of the precision technologies used on their South Dakota farm — which encompasses most all of their equipment.