Tuesday 4th July was the first time AgTech Ireland had a presence at the Teagasc Moorepark Dairy Open Day with our own AgTech Ireland Avenue marquee. Our partnership with Teagasc and Enterprise Ireland was crucial to allow us be there on the day, and we were delighted to have had this opportunity to interact with some of Ireland’s most business focused dairy farmers.
The quality of research on farm practices and technologies to help dairy farmers improve the sustainability of their farms from an economic, social and environmental perspective is what attracts the thousands of farmers who attended. The heavy showers did not dampen the mood, as farmers went from research reporting stations around the Open Day circuit to a range of talks in the Ornua Tent, calling through the AgTech Ireland Avenue marquee and meeting our 23 agtech exhibitors on the way.
Irish agriculture, especially livestock farming, is facing challenges to reduce its carbon footprint rapidly. There is an excellent plan of action in place, underpinned by the recently revised Teagasc Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) which many farmers are already engaged with, as was evident at the Open Day. However, it will be very challenging for Irish agriculture to meet its climate targets in good time. Agtech, and the multitude of specialised solutions that it can make available to farmers, have a vital role to play in supporting Irish farmers’ economic and labour efficiencies, their social licence to produce the quality, sustainable food they are best suited to supply for the world, and their environmental and climate performance.
Some of our member company representatives exhibiting at Moorepark Dairy Open Day 2023
A big thank you to Teagasc, especially their Moorepark Open Day 23 organising Team headed by Laurence Shalloo, and to James Maloney of Enterprise Ireland and his agtech colleagues for trusting us and partnering with us to allow our member companies to showcase their innovations on the day.
We owe a very special thank you to Siobhán Jordan and James Healy of Teagasc for their support around the event.
We were also delighted to discover with Vista Milk researchers some of their current research projects. We plan to have further engagement with Donagh Berry and his Team in coming months to bring together farm sustainability researchers and the private companies which can bring their solutions to the agricultural community.
Huge appreciation, too for our member companies, who played a blinder to ensure the entire event was a success and have given us very positive feedback on their experience.
This was the first time that private, commercial companies could present their dairy-relevant innovations in such a non-commercial, Teagasc forum, to support the agri-sector in delivering on its climate and environmental obligations. We look forward to further collaborations and events with Teagasc and Enterprise Ireland to involve our member companies, as we are clear they have much to contribute to the economic, social and environmental sustainability journey of Irish agriculture.