Smart farming on rural farms in Ireland to raise awareness in the agri-food community
Ploutos’ Sustainable Innovation Pilot 5 (SIP5) aims at improving the standard of living in rural areas of Ireland by digitalising agricultural processes. Moreover, one important activity was the implementation of a diversified approach regarding the business model applied in the dairy and suckler production.
How does the pilot work?
The installation of sensors (on 36 farms) provided access to real-time data and allowing farmers to take important financial decisions based on that data, through and with the support of the technical service provider Netfeasa.
Subsequently, an online platform was created called EvenKeel (farm.evenkeel.io) accessible through the users’ mobile phone. This helped to visualise the data in a well-structured clear way and access these data in real-time.
Moreover, the creation of a local agri-food network (i.e. group-chat in a social media app) allowed for a better and faster information transfer and better connectivity among farmers.
Unlocking the power of 4 key insights
Through the implementation of the pilot, some key insights were gained. The challenges and problems we faced so far are presented here to help us gain a better understanding, create sustainable innovations that will rebalance the agri-food value chains and move towards a fair agricultural system.
Outcomes: Important outcomes include:
the installation of sensors on 36 farms;
the development of the EvenKeel app;
the creation of a local agri-food network.
Practical Recommendations: From the pilot’s deployment it was concluded that more workshops should be organised on farms in order to build strong and connected core groups. Another suggestion is to organise more one-to-one meetings.
Problems: Certainly, as with all projects that bring digital transformation to the foreground, its implementation is not without challenges. Such is the gap observed in food production and food branding, between abattoirs, co-operatives and retailers. Therefore, the challenge is bridging this gap by making changes in the applied agricultural practices and/or in the legal framework.
Outlook: For the next day of this pilot, it is acknowledged that the strong tourism market and the high quality of local produce are the baseline values that have to be amplified. Therefore, the goal for the near future is to communicate these assets effectively across the value-chain actors.
Watch this video on our YouTube channel and learn how technology can help farmers in Ireland take important (organisational & financial) decisions based on real-time data.
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