New AI tool aims to take on-farm decision stress out of succession

A new AI tool, Furrow, aims to ease successors into farm life and ensure there is no lapse in farm management, its founder Niall Brennan told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Brennan, from a farm in Monaghan, said his lived experience of succession was his inspiration for developing the technology, which was a finalist in the Start-Up of the Year category in Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Arena at the National Ploughing Championships last week.

A living memory of the farm

The technology links farmers, their advisor and their successor, in a bid to provide a “living memory of the farm”, making it easy to see what was done and why it was done on the farm in previous months and years.

“It pulls up anything from old notes, invoices, animal records, provides advice on schemes you are eligible for and simple questions you would usually ask your advisor," Brennan explained.

“It is based on WhatsApp which means that it is very accessible for all ages, with users able to send messages, voice notes and pictures.

“As rules change, the advice is updated accordingly, compliance is a priority,” Brennan said.

The successor that isn't farming

Brennan highlighted if the successor is working in the farm, succession can be relatively straightforward, but that that isn’t the case on many farms.

“Succession can be overnight in some cases, which is really difficult when the successor hasn’t been farming," Brennan stated.

He said that this technology is ideal for a successor in that situation.

“A farm can take a tumble quite quickly when there are crops and livestock involved.

“This platform makes it easier for them to maintain their life and manage the farm along with it, so that when you are landed into it, you can start from the get-go."

Response

Brennan said the response has been "phenomenal".

"I thought it would be more of interest for younger farmers, but older farmers were really interested.

“At the Ploughing, older farmers were saying that they were worried that the people who were taking it on had been away from the farm for years and wouldn’t know how to run it. That can cause significant stress on the family.

“It is like having a living conversation, a conversation you never got to have."

Brennan said that the tool will be launched in Ireland first, but hoping to go into the European market and beyond.