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Those not involved in agriculture who still envision red barns, pitchforks and overalls would be surprised to find out that with the fast adoption of the latest technologies, what we do on the farm is less like Green Acres and more like The Jetsons.

Self-driving tractors, cow-milking robots and cover-crop-seeding drones are just a few examples of the advancements farmers are using to be more efficient, more precise and more sustainable in all aspects of agriculture.

But being early users of technology is nothing new to agriculture. Before GPS was telling commuters the best way to get from point A to point B, farmers were using those same satellites to guide them through the field to place seeds in perfectly straight rows.

Before DNA was a tool to crack a decades-old cold case, agriculture was using it to create improved breeds of livestock to produce healthier, better tasting protein and to create corn and soybean genetics to tolerate drought conditions and minimize the damages from pests and diseases.

Truth is, we are just scratching the surface when it comes to technology farmers use, and keeping up with certain changes may seem daunting. That is why we are working closely with our partners at Nationwide and Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences to create valuable resources and research to help our members navigate the process of adopting new ag technologies.

With the launch of Ohio Farm Bureau’s Ag Intelligence Service, we are introducing a new Tech Report exclusively for members. Among many other important topics, this report will help you fully understand how to calculate a technology’s return on investment, identify the hidden costs associated with technology and even develop a business plan and budget for funding new technology.

In addition, we have joined forces with Nationwide and CFAES to establish the AgTech Innovation Hub, a groundbreaking research collaboration. This partnership will develop a deeper understanding of the vulnerabilities farmers face during the production season and create effective technology-based management and mitigation strategies for those challenges. Several of the initial research projects of this partnership will focus on automated drainage water management and using artificial intelligence to identify crop risks.

Those of us involved in agriculture are excited to be a significant participant in testing and using the next wave of new technologies. As much of our society is asking what the future holds, there is no doubt that for agriculture, that the future is now.