Machinery costs at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Agricultural Research Stations will drop significantly this season, thanks to a new partnership between the UW-Madison, Case IH and several Wisconsin Case IH dealers. The arrangement will also provide station staff, researchers and students a chance to make use of new precision farming technologies on the university’s hundreds of acres of research plots.

Beginning this season, four Case IH dealerships are providing approximately 150 pieces of agricultural equipment to the university’s 12 research stations for a nominal fee. The dealers are in the process of delivering tractors as well as equipment for tillage, spraying, planting and harvesting, and skid steer loaders. They will also assist with normal scheduled maintenance.

“This comes at an opportune time,” says William F. Tracy, interim dean of the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS). “These stations are important for conducting not only agricultural research, but also work related to bioenergy and environmental protection. With reduced funding from the state, it’s essential that we find ways to stretch our budget.”

The program will save CALS tens of thousands of dollars in machinery lease, purchase and service costs in 2011 alone, estimates Dwight Mueller, director of the research stations.

“At the same time, our operators will be exposed to some of the latest in new farm equipment design and technology,” he adds. “A few examples include guidance/steering and yield and moisture monitoring systems, and no-till planter technology. We’ve been dealing with 15- or 20-year old combines. The ones we’re getting use GPS technology to monitor yields. That will be very useful in our crop research.”

Similarly, the precision of new, state-of-the-art sprayers and planters will make it easier to achieve the uniform planting depths and application rates that are essential for conducting accurate field trials, he adds.

“One reason we’re doing this is to give university staff and students experience with our new equipment and to give people in the agricultural industry a chance to see it perform,” says Patricia Lardie, manager of government sales for Case IH. “But it goes beyond that. As a Wisconsin-based company, Case IH feels a strong commitment to supporting agricultural research and education in the state.”

The university’s research stations cover more than 7,000 acres across the state. They serve as outdoor classrooms and labs, providing land for faculty, staff and students to conduct field experiments and test new methods for growing and managing a variety of agricultural crops.

Four Case IH dealerships are involved in the partnership. Service Motor Co., with stores in Dale, Wausau, Stevens Pt., New Franklin and Seymour, support the Kemp, Sturgeon Bay, Hancock, Rhinelander and Marshfield stations. Ritchie Implement, Cobb, supports the West Madison and Lancaster station, the O.J. Noer turfgrass facility near Verona, campus greenhouses and the USDA Dairy Forage Research Center’s field station at Prairie du Sac. Farmer’s Implement, Columbus, supports the Arlington research station. Value Implement of Menomonie, Osseo and Arcadia support the Spooner Station.

Case IH is a global leader in agricultural equipment with headquarters in the United States and a network of dealers and distributors that operates in over 160 countries. Its products include tractors, combines and harvesters, hay and forage equipment, tillage tools, planting and seeding systems, sprayers and applicators, and utility vehicles. Case IH is a brand of CNH, a subsidiary of Fiat Industrial.