The system collects live data from farms, which will be used to provide advice to help make on-farm decisions about ration formulation, weight gains, yield and costs.

“Long term, we believe that milk yield can be improved by up to 1,000 litres without any compromise on herd health,” said managing director Gerard Keenan. “Variation in diet can be quickly identified, assessed and corrected through the InTouch system.”

“The big advantage of the InTouch system is that all information that goes into the weight clock is going back into the system, through the cloud and into the technology centre that allows Keenan to monitor performance,” said group animal health consultant Martin Kavanagh.

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IoT (Internet of Things) technology produces real-time information for Keenan and backs up each farmer’s system via cloud computing. The technology also allows Keenan to become more innovative as the company will be able to better understand the needs of its customers.

“We’re selling information and getting information back,” said Gerard Keenan. “The farmers are linked into a new world of knowledge and their knowledge is linked back to us. We are currently seeing a change around the world of people really looking for solutions.

Keenan has been operating in Borris, Co Carlow, since 1978. They now manufacture over 50 units a week and export to 35 countries.