A: Variable-rate fertilizer placement and auto-steer have enabled me to save 15% on my fertilizer costs. That’s 7% from auto-steer and 8% from variable-rate. My fertilizer costs for this past spring were $82 per acre, for a total savings of $12.30 per acre. Over a couple thousand acres the savings are $24,600! That helps pay for precision ag upgrades, while also reducing fertilizer runoff.

— Eric Odberg, Genesee, Idaho

A: Positive ROI is significant from an ultra-low disturbance seeding system using the CrossSlot drill. We barely leave a footprint on the ground, which helps retain residue and leaves an environment for building soil structure. 

This tool allows us to seed cash crops, seed into cover crops and interseed.

Second, our sprayer application technology includes rate control, overlap control, mapping and portability. We started 15 years ago with a 10-station auto-boom on/off control. This gave us a huge ROI.

— Tracy Eriksen, St. John, Wash.

A: We’re now updating our planter from 8 to 16 rows with a nicely-equipped John Deere DB40 loaded with Precision Planting equipment. The planter has vSet vacuum meters, vDrive…