Strip-Till Dominates Tillage Launches at 2026 Farm Progress Show

Strip-till equipment dominated new product releases at the 2026 Farm Progress Show, with manufacturers rolling out more options for farmers trying to balance soil conservation with strong yields. The segment's new flagship carries a price to match: Kuhn's Gladiator XL 1210, the largest commercial strip-till toolbar on the market, lists between $750,000 and $850,000.

Strip-till (a system that tills narrow bands rather than the whole field, leaving residue between rows) has become the battleground where input makers are competing for growers who want conservation without sacrificing yield.

What did the majors launch?

Kuhn's Gladiator XL 1210 pairs 16-ton fertilizer capacity with 24-row capability. The specification sheet demands 650 hp, which places it firmly in the large-operation category.

For more typical farm operations, Case IH entered the strip-till market with its Nutri-Tiller 1000 series in mounted configurations from 6 to 16 rows. Kinze took a narrower path, partnering with Yetter to build the Falcon SF700 strip freshener, a tool designed specifically for pre-plant seedbed preparation.

How far has autonomy reached?

Autonomous technology made significant progress at the show. PTx Trimble expanded its OutRun system beyond grain carts into tillage operations. The system now runs spring and fall tillage plus land rolling on John Deere 8R and select Fendt tractors, with operators monitoring everything through a phone app.

John Deere moved in the same direction on the iron side, adding smaller High Speed Disk models in 15- to 25-foot widths and expanding autonomy-ready capability to more models across its lineup.

What changed in conventional tillage?

Traditional equipment saw updates as well. Great Plains released the VT1200 chisel plow with a floating hitch and aggressive finishing options for vertical tillage work. Norwood's Kwik-Koulter high-speed disc harrow runs 10 to 15 mph in sizes up to 60 feet wide.

Versatility anchored several launches:

• Landoll's 2700 Vertistrip works as a shank, coulter or mole knife unit on the same toolbar, letting one machine serve multiple tillage approaches.
• Great Plains' BD7510 drill folds from 20 feet wide in the field to 8 or 9 feet for road travel, addressing safety concerns for farmers operating near urban areas.

The pattern across the launches is clear: manufacturers are pricing and engineering for growers who want residue management and seedbed quality in a single pass, and autonomy is moving from grain-cart novelty toward everyday tillage work. Expect the strip-till segment to stay crowded as Case IH's entry pressures established players on configuration flexibility at the mid-size end.