VERSAILLES, Ohio – Ryan and Krista Schmitmeyer have played host to farm tours, agri-business luncheons and other community gatherings on their dairy farm in Darke County in Ohio. But they never dreamed they’d be asked to host USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Brian Baldridge.

This three-person delegation converged on the Schmitmeyer farm in April to discuss innovative tools for nutrient management. About 40 area developers, local politicians, farmers and business leaders gathered for the Our Land, Our Water Tour to learn more about land and manure-management efforts that could help improve the water quality of Grand Lake St. Marys.

“I was a bit stunned, to be honest,” Ryan Schmitmeyer said. “Our local NCRS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) agent contacted me to see if I’d let the officials check out our farm.”

The couple’s six children begged to be a part of the gathering.

“Our oldest took off from school be a part of it, and we picked up the other children from school a little early so they could be in attendance as well,” Ryan said.

Earlier in the day the entourage met just down the road at Weaver Eggs to tour one of the farms affected by the bird flu outbreak and to get a closer look at their operations and technology. That afternoon, they visited the Schmitmeyer farm to take a closer look at the 360 RAIN Irrigation System, one that makes work more efficient.

The 360 RAIN unit is an autonomous irrigation system designed to deliver water, nutrients and even manure to crops. It’s essentially a self-propelled machine that moves along rows of crops, applying water or other liquids directly to the root zone. This allows for efficient irrigation and fertilization, especially in irregular fields or where water is limited.

The event was the second annual tour and presentation meant to bring together local people from all walks of life and educate them on efforts to improve nearby Grand Lake St. Marys. Darke County has approximately 344,000 acres of farmland with 96 percent being family owned farms.

“Some AI-driven technologies are game changers for agriculture, in the markets and in the fields,” said Scott Shearer, professor and chair of Ohio State University’s Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering. “We’re seeing an upward trend in the use of AI-driven autonomy packages to do work that used to be done by humans. This is a great solution to the persistent farm labor shortage.”

The 360 RAIN system is coveted by the Schmitmeyers, who milk around 400 head of dairy cattle and farm more than 800 acres of row crops. The 360 RAIN unit delivers manure and water directly to the crops through Y-drop irrigation lines, reducing the potential for runoff and nutrient loss. The unit is self-driving and can be monitored and adjusted through a cell phone app. The system replaces the need for drag-line manure application, ensuring that the growing crop gets the right nutrients at the right time.

In addition, the 360 RAIN system aligns with the goals of DeWine’s H2Ohio water quality initiative, which is currently facing proposed budget reductions.

 “We had several reasons for adopting AI,” Schmitmeyer said. “We’re always looking for ways to be more profitable, but it’s not just about money. The more we automate, the more we can get done – and that frees up time for family. Plus, it has a better environmental impact.”

The 360 RAIN system replaces the old tank-out or drag-line method of delivering water and nutrients, which is labor intensive with potential runoff and nutrient loss. The 360 RAIN unit is programmed to inch down crop rows to irrigate and deliver nutrients drawn from a holding pond where manure is stored.

But the innovation doesn’t end there.

“We’re also prototyping injecting cover crops into the liquid stream and seeding cover crops with this irrigation machine,” Schmitmeyer said. “We’ll be the first farm in the world to inject cover crop seeds this way.”

On Schmitmeyer’s farm, automation isn’t just in the fields. It’s also in the dairy parlor.

“We recently started using manure-scraping robots. They’re like a Roomba for manure,” he said. “They squeegee and vacuum the manure and send it to the lagoon. They operate around the clock and they’re quiet. The cows don’t mind them at all.”

Shearer predicted, “In the future, there will be a gradual acceleration of technology into the practice of agriculture in Ohio, where even smaller operations will produce more from limited land resources with the help of technology driven by AI.”