The popular Department of Agriculture agfood.ie facility has received a revamp and upgrade with a number of new features introduced.

The new online platform - called MyAgfood.ie - was launched at the National Ploughing Championships taking place in Tullamore, Co Offaly, by Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon.

The new platform includes a number of valuable features including providing farmers with important updates from the Department and a designated section for schemes which provides farmers with an overview of the schemes they are participating in.

Other features include an instant overview of animal numbers by species or category, along with a forecasting tool to assist in checking the age of animals in the herd at a future date.

This, along with a new facility to project nitrates figures on the farm, is an invaluable tool to ensure farmers remain within organic stocking rate limits and to assist in other tasks such as nutrient management planning.

Launching the new platform, Minister Heydon said: “MyAgFood.ie is more than just a new platform. It forms a key part of my Department’s strategy to improve its online customer services, making them more accessible and efficient.

"This new platform has been designed based on extensive consultation with our customers and other stakeholders. I understand the high levels of admin work involved for farmers and I hope this new platform will help make managing farm admin work quicker and easier.”

Features in detail

The full list of revamped features as outlined by the Department ae as follows:

  • A personalised homepage - users will receive the information relevant to them and their farm - for example, applying for schemes and viewing all the schemes they have applied for in one place.
  • Viewing upcoming animal tests - for example, users will be able to see all mandatory and private tests for their cattle.
  • Receiving an instant overview of animal numbers - users will be able to access a breakdown of herd by species, category (beef or dairy), age and a date forecasting tool to assist them in checking the age groups of their animals at a specified future date.
  • Viewing projected nitrates figures on their farm - this will assist farmers in taking action to reduce levels, if required. For example, users will be able to see how changes to their farm (land, animals, slurry import or exports) could potentially affect their end-of-year levels. For the first tie users will be able to enter details of other livestock such as sheep and equines and see what effect this has on complying with nitrates limits.
  • Easy access to payment information.
    • - users can get an overview of payments pending, sanctioned and historic data.

    Minister Heydon added: “What you see today is just the beginning of MyAgFood.ie. We will continue to add new services and features based on feedback from users.

    "This launch is phase one and my Department is committed to an ongoing journey of improvements based on feedback.”

    The Department explains that the existing online platform - agfood.ie - will remain available for a limited period to facilitate the transition to MyAgFood.ie. Users can access MyAgFood.ie by clicking through the link in agfood.ie or by searching for it in their search engine.