I attended Iowa State Extension’s Strip-Till Field Day ahead of the 2025 National Strip-Tillage Conference in Iowa City last week. 

The “who’s who” of strip-till manufacturers were all there, as attendees got an up-close look at 11 different toolbars. I caught up with Levi Powell, who’s with the ISU Digital Ag Innovation Group. He points to technology advancements as a major catalyst for strip-till adoption in the Corn Belt. 

“We see it growing in a lot of different hot pockets. You’ll get a couple guys start into it, neighbors see it, it’s being successful for them. They might do some custom work for some neighbors, and it grows from there. We’re getting more questions about it every year. We’ve been doing strip-till in Ames in our research programs since 2016, so we’ve been at it almost 10 years in our plots. It’s neat to see it more broadly adopted. As input costs are changing, and different environmental regulations changing, you get more people starting to look at it I think. 

Black Eagle Ag, the self-proclaimed new kids on the strip-till block, were also in attendance with their brand-new toolbar. We’ve got an interview with them coming to the Farm Equipment YouTube page soon.