Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Arena is once again back at the National Ploughing Championships.
Bringing with it an exciting array of innovations from start-up businesses and well-known companies that are introducing new products onto the market.
Agriculture has always been a huge driver of innovation, with farmers like us constantly striving to seek new ways of doing our work, quicker, better, easier and in a more sustainable fashion.
And next week within the Innovation Arena, you will find everything from exciting new machinery to smart farming technology, all designed to help us to stay ahead, and indeed to thrive, in farming for generations to come.
Tags can often be on the wrong end of the animal for the job being undertaken, sometimes leading to costly errors and unreliable data.
Well, Cormac Tagging, a leader in animal identification, has developed a new HDX electronic chip-enabled leg band, designed to identify cows accurately from behind the animal, supporting better identification, which can help to create efficiencies on the farm.
The leg band’s integrated chip, with the same identification number as the ear tag, enables instant, hands free identification, eliminating mistakes and saving time for the farmer.
Designed for durability, comfort, and seamless use, it acts as a software enabler, ready to integrate with existing herd management systems, ICBF, and milk recording companies.
This innovation improves accuracy, safety, and efficiency at farm level, and it also supports the farmers ability to connect seamless animal data integration with their existing software.
A Gas idea GasAbate is a sustainably focused new cutting-edge slurry additive, designed to tackle gaseous emissions during storage, bringing innovation to sustainable farming.
By temporarily suppressing methanogens, the microbes responsible for methane production, GasAbate dramatically slows down methanogenesis. This not only curbs methane bubbling through the slurry, but also reduces the release of other harmful gases like ammonia and hydrogen sulphide.
As a result, more nutrients stay locked in the slurry, enhancing its value as a fertiliser, while minimising environmental impact. The GasAbate innovation also leaves no toxic or persistent residue, making treated slurry safe for use on land.
This technology is fully approved for sale across the EU, bringing a smarter, sustainable solution for modern agriculture.
Talking the talk with Herdwatch Herdwatch needs no introduction from me. The Livestock Management Software company has for years been helping farmers manage animal and pasture data from the comfort of your phone, tablet, or computer.
Ever developing its technology, Herdwatch now brings you Herdi–Herd Intelligence.
The three award winners of the 2024 Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena competition: Robert Shine of Samco Agricultural Manufacturing who won ‘Innovation Arena Champion Award’; Kieran Supple of Reap Interactive who won ‘Start-Up Innovator of the Year’; and Ronan Boyle of EASYFIX who won the inaugural ‘’Green Impact Award’.
This is the first context-aware AI developed specifically for livestock producers.
In other words, with this Herdwatch technology you can speak into your phone to record your daily tasks, and it’s all very clever indeed.
Built into the already popular and widely used Herdwatch app, the new AI assistant Herdi will help farmers to make faster and informed decisions by interpreting a wide range of data, such as vaccination records and grazing plans, weather forecasts and regulatory guidelines.
By integrating both on-farm and external data sources, Herdi provides clear evidence-based insights through chat, voice, or visual formats. The AI assistant is designed to support everyday farm management tasks such as treatment tracking, grazing scheduling, and compliance navigation, offering practical support across the sector.
A Keane Design Hibra Design develops bespoke solutions to transform vehicles to decrease the impact they have on the environment, while increasing production efficiency, reducing operational costs and producing healthier working environments.
Mike Keane is the man behind this innovative business. Mike has over 20 years of automotive engineering experience behind him.
Mike has worked at a senior level on leading-edge automotive technology, with major global companies such as Ford, Williams F1, Nissan, Aston Martin, Land Rover, Jaguar, Liebherr and Magna.
And now, leading his own automotive design company Hibra Design, Mike is able to bring the highest-calibre, innovative solutions to your vehicle.
Hibra Design’s latest innovation has been to reengineer a diesel engine of a John Deere tractor and replace it with a high-voltage clean technology electric powertrain.
The objective of this project is to create a zero-emissions vehicle, specifically tailored for peatland rewetting operations across the Irish midlands.
The company is focused on developing solutions which decrease the impact vehicles have on the environment while maintaining their efficiency and power.
And staying with high tech, the Titan Pulsator, is a smart dairy solution in milking precision and herd welfare. It integrates continuous, intelligent AI-driven diagnostics to identify potential issues to support animal health and efficiencies on farm. The innovation comes from Pearson Milking Technology which is a third-generation Irish family business, Pearson Milking Technology’s latest innovation harnesses intelligent diagnostics, including service interval counters, electric solenoid monitoring, vacuum leak and drop detection, and cutting-edge AI-driven acoustic monitoring.
Their breakthrough innovation safeguards cow health, prevents costly breakdowns, reduces downtime, and delivers smoother milking – meaning happier, healthier cows and more milk in the tank.
Combining innovation, reliability, and farmer-focused design, this is a tool for modern, progressive dairy farms looking to maximise efficiency, animal health, and long-term profitability.
And you will be able to see this and many more innovative and creative products and services in the Innovation Arena, at next week’s ploughing Championships.