Interest and use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in agriculture continues to increase, but questions remain about whether the technology is a practical tool or simply a toy? Having researched and experimented with application of UAVs in conservation tillage systems, John Nowatzki, agricultural machine systems specialist at North Dakota State University, is an authority on the use of unmanned aerial imaging and sensing technology. Nowatzki will share his experience and advice on current use of UAVs in strip-till, along with a look at future applications and opportunities with the technology.

Developing a strip-till system isn’t an easy process. Just ask Brian Watkins, who took nearly 15 years to confidently transition from no-tilled corn to strip-till on his 7,000-acre operation near Kenton, Ohio. Throughout the transition, experimentation has been a mainstay of his strip-till system to include incorporation of crop sensing technology, equipment setup modifications and intensive fertilizer management practices. Watkins will share his experience and payback utilizing remote sensing tools to improve fertilizer application methods, along with the addition of an air seeder cart for dry fertilizer application in strip-till.

While many farmers collect field data, it’s knowing what to do with it that will help you improve the productivity and efficiency of your strip-till operation. This is something strip-tiller Trent Sanderson has made a priority to improve management of his family’s 2,000-acre corn, soybean and wheat operation near Clare, Ill. Sanderson will share how number crunching and analysis of collected data, along with the use of precision farming practices like electric row clutches and rate control, are helping him assess the return on investment of the farm’s strip-till system and shape annual input expenditures.

After nearly a quarter-century of strip-tilling a variety of crops, third-generation farmer Eric Wallendal and his wife, Megan, still view their Grand Marsh, Wis., operation as a work-in-progress. All of their strip-tilled acres are under center-pivot irrigation and in 2014, they spring strip-tilled 2,000 acres of soybeans, forage corn and snap beans.

As a fifth-generation farmer, Dave Delhotal takes pride in producing high-quality crops while caring for the land in an environmentally sustainable way. Through the dual efforts of strip-tilling continuous corn and a controlled-traffic system, he’s been able to fight compaction and dramatically increase soil health on the family’s West Brooklyn, Ill., operation.

For years, precision ag was defined by two practices — grid soil sampling and yield maps. That’s no longer the case. Steve Cubbage says data now streams from everywhere and everything. Soil EC monitoring is back in vogue and new technologies like UAV imagery and Google Glass are front-page news. View