New PTI facility opening in September

PONTIAC, Ill. — A new home for the Precision Technology Institute is set to open next month.

The 20,000-square-foot building is located across the street from the temporary tent and PTI truck trailer that has been on the 200-acre research site.

The building includes meeting rooms for large and small groups, the “Inside PTI” studio and an 80-by-120-foot shop for working on equipment.

“We’ll have everything we need right in here. We’re excited about what we’re going to be able to do,” said Jason Webster, PTI manager.

“We’re going to do agronomy 12 months out of the year versus being able to do it just in the summer months. We look forward to working with industry folks and sharing data with us and us sharing the data with everyone else.”

Precision Planting purchased the farm on the west edge of Pontiac in 2016. It features over 75 test plots providing real-time data to farmers and engineers.

It also includes a large-scale unplanted “sandbox” where on any given day farmers and industry representatives can see the latest planting and equipment technology in action.

Data from field trials are shared when PTI hosts both national and international visitors during field days.