As dealer optimism continues to inch upward heading into the second quarter of 2017, no-till farmers are anticipating increased adoption of precision farming equipment this year.

Respondents to the 9th annual No-Till Farmer Operational Benchmark Study, forecast higher use of 10 different precision technologies in 2017, compared to the last 2 years.

Topping the list is yield monitor data analysis, with about 49% of no-tillers planning to utilize the technology, a more than 8% increase over 2016 and 2015.

Also seeing a sizeable jump is planned adoption of auto-boom shutoff, from about 32% last year to more than 40% in 2017. Field mapping is on the rise as well with more than 48% of no-tillers planning to make use of the technology in 2017, compared to about 40% during the last 2 years.

While guidance and auto-steer systems may be considered standard precision technologies, 57% of survey respondents plan to use these precision platforms in their operation in 2017, up from just less than 50% the past 2 years.

Rounding out the top 5 is use of auto-seed shutoff, increasing from about 29% in 2016 to more than 34% this year.

It’s also worth noting that despite the forecasted increases in technology adoption, no-tillers only plan to spend about $200 more per farm on precision equipment than a year ago, according to the study.

In 2016, no-till farmers averaged about $2,400 per farm in precision farming expenditures. This year, they forecast spending an average of about $2,600 per farm.

However, it’s worth noting that survey projections made at the start of the year, don’t always coincide with end of the year totals. In 2015, no-tillers exceeded their planned expenditures on precision farming products by more than double.

They initially forecast an average investment of about $2,600 per farm and reported spending more than $6,300 per farm on average.