Moving into the second quarter of 2016, many precision dealers are maintaining a conservative sales outlook for the foreseeable future. But there may be reason for optimism, based on the recent results of No-Till Farmer’s 8th annual Benchmark Study.

In this video, we take a closer look at some of the data from the report. You can also access the report here in No-Till Farmer's May 2016 edition of the Conservation Tillage Guide.

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Video Transcript

Moving into the second quarter of 2016, many precision dealers are maintaining a conservative sales outlook for the foreseeable future. But there may be reason for optimism, based on the recent results of No-Till Farmer’s 8^th annual Benchmark Study.

Respondents reported spending more than $6,300, or approximately $5.50 per acre on precision farming technology in 2015, nearly triple the $2,600 that no-tillers had initially forecasted in last year’s benchmark study.

The 2015 total also ended a 4-year downward trend in precision farming expenditures, which peaked at more than $8,800 per farm in 2011.

So was last year’s increase a sign of things to come, or a temporary rebound? That remains to be seen, as no-tillers are forecasting precision expenditures of about $3,500 or $3.13 per acre this year — well below 2015 totals, but on par with 2014 expenditures. In 2013, no-tillers estimated spending about $4,100 on precision farming equipment, well below the approximately $6,800 they invested in 2012.

Although overall spending on technology may be fluctuating, the percentage of no-tillers utilizing advanced precision systems remained largely unchanged year-over-year according to the 2016 No-Till Farmer study.

GPS and tractor auto-steer remained the most commonly used technology with 50% of no-tillers utilizing the systems. About 41% of no-tillers do yield monitor data analysis, followed by 40% who do field mapping and 40% who use lightbars for GPS guidance.

Two new categories added in 2016 round out the top 5, with 32% of no-tillers using auto-boom shutoffs and 30% utilizing auto-seed shutoff.

The biggest year-over-year increase came in the number of no-tillers using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, doubling from 3% in 2015 to 6% this year.