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Technology requires a return on investment at farmer level, according to Donagh Berry of Teagasc.
Berry, the director of VistaMilk, the new research centre hosted at Teagasc Moorepark, was speaking at the AgriTech 2018 day in Skibbereen.
The AgriTech day enabled researchers, industry and farmers to mix and Berry's words formed a recurring theme of the day.
Bioeconomy
The attendance heard of the potential for the development of the bioeconomy in Ireland and precision agriculture and while the subject matter varied from biotechnology to big data, the conversation almost always returned to farm level and practicality.
The more practical technology is, the better chance farmers have of availing of it.
On-farm benefits
Using day-to-day examples of technology, dairy farmer Cathal O’Sullivan said:
“My discussion group has a WhatsApp group and that’s useful. It can solve problems, we can raise issues on it and I can benchmark with better farmers in the group as I’m new to it.”
The 2015 NDC and Kerrygold milk quality award winner added that “for new technology it must be efficient on a farm. If it’s not efficient for me to use, it’s wasting my time.”
AIB head of agriculture Tadhg Buckley said that technology comes in many forms even though we now associate the term with handheld electronic devices rather than mechanical technology.
Benefit
Stating that while ongoing research into more advanced technology and big data was extremely important, farmers will take up technology if it is of benefit to them. Citing the example of the round baler, he said that since its development, it has become one of the most influential pieces of technology at farm level in Irish agriculture.
The event took place in Skibbereen Community School in conjunction with Ludgate Hub.
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