John Deere has officially re-entered the strip-till market, confirming what we first reported a few weeks ago. The new units will be available for order in February and will ship this summer.

We got an up-close look at the machine in action at the John Deere Training Center — the ST16 Drawn model, one of five different units available. Each offers a variety of shanks, coulters and row-spacings. I caught up with Deere Product Tillage Manager Steve Sporrer and asked him why the company is re-entering the strip-till game, and how the new unit pairs with their precision technology. 

“As we look at opportunities for growers to be more efficient and sustainable, we want to be able to provide solutions for customers wherever they are along that journey. We feel that this is a great solution for growers that want to be in the strip-till market. We’ve got the best strip-till solution out there and we’re excited to have another tool in the toolbox for growers to implement that strategy.

“And as you look at the total solution we’re taking the building blocks of our precision ag products, tying in an integrated steerable hitch so that we can use AutoPath and all of our precision ag technology to simplify the execution of the strip-till job and make it easier and more efficient for the grower to implement.”

Deere also announced an addition to their precision technology package, launching TruSet Active tillage technology, which utilizes a sensor to actively check implement working depth and field conditions during operation.

TruSet Active will be included as base equipment on select tillage tools, starting with model year 2024.