The 2022 Strip-Till Benchmark study shows strip-tillers’ increasing use of RTK correction, their top guidance brands and an increased interest in variable-rate technology for the 2022 season and beyond.

Most strip-tillers who took the 2022 survey 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% using RTK in 2020. 

The most popular guidance brand 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. Ag Leader saw the biggest jump in usage, increasing from 16.9% in 2020 to 22.6% in 2021. 

About 69% of strip-tillers do not use implement guidance. 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.

Variable-rate seeding (VRS) and variable-rate fertilizer application (VRA) technologies are higher on strip-tillers’ purchase wish lists. More than half of respondents plan to buy these technologies in the next year. 

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PURCHASE PLANS. Variable-rate seeding and variable-rate fertilizer application technologies are high on strip-tillers’ wish lists in 2022.

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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. 

The 2022 Strip-Till Benchmark survey also surveyed strip-tillers on drone usage, which has held steady in popularity in the last 6 years. About 23% of strip-tillers used drones in their operation in 2021, which is the average percentage of use since 2016.