Technologies on trend

New agricultural technologies are starting to make the life of the farmer and food producer significantly simpler and in the coming years, more will emerge. With application, those technologies should increase returns and reduce waste. They will have benefits for the consumer too, who are ever more concerned about food provenance, food safety and environmental repercussions.

There are several technologies that are becoming more useful and prevalent within the agriculture and food growing sectors. Examples of these include biotechnology in food sciences and animal health and welfare; communications technology; robotics; new technologies for food processing and packaging; research and development; big data and drone technology.

We talk to some key players in this area, who explain the technologies that are on trend, as well as the agri-tech that will become more commonplace as the years roll on.

Plant and animal genomics and related technologies: the application of genomics for plant and animal breeding.

"In Ireland we are well ahead of the pack in the application of genomics for breeding of our dairy and beef animals. We were the second country, after the US, to make use of this with the dairy herd. It has resulted in an increase of over 50 per cent in the rate of genetic gain, so it means that farmers are assured they have a better quality of animal. Rather than picking good animals for breeding on the basis of observation, you have real hard data based on the DNA of the animal. Farmers can be assured they are getting the best possible animals for the Irish grassland systems and it means more money in the pocket of the farmer. Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) has developed a huge data base of every animal in Ireland and it records the movement of the animals also. That is big data in action.

Research and development within human, animal and soil microbiota:

“We’ve known for a long time that within our gut there is a large colony of microscopic life forms and we’ve learned these play a very important role, not only to our physical well-being but they also have an influence on our mental well-being too. There is a centre in UCC called APC Microbiome Ireland and the research coming from there shows the food we eat, day by day, influences those microbiota. There is a good understanding of how different types of foods can influence that. The application will come in developing food products which can influence our microbiota in a positive way. There are a number of spin-out companies coming from APC that will be developing products based on this work. Those microbiota are in the soil and in livestock too. Livestock are a major contributor to greenhouse gases in Ireland, so they are examining how they can reduce that by what the animals eat.

New technologies for food processing:

We are now hearing about links between cancer and overly processed foods. Foods have to be processed to a certain extent so it will have a shelf life and it takes the risks out of it but consumers want that processing to be more natural. There are a number of new technologies such as fractioning, preserving, formulating that are creating all sorts of new and innovative products. One example is biotechnology company Nuritas, based in Dublin, who use data to discover peptides that can benefit nutritional health. (Head of Strategy and International Relations at Teagasc, Dr Lance O'Brien.)

Digital technologies/ Apps/Algorithms:

We’re looking at things like robotic milking machines, and technologies being used for herd management with well-known Irish companies like Dairymaster supplying products globally. Products like Moo monitor, which are attached to animals and monitor all aspects of the animals, including when they are in heat or are lame, send an alert to farmer’s mobile phone. Moocall, based in Dublin, is another agricultural machinery manufacturer that creates calving sensors. (Head of Strategy and International Relations at Teagasc, Dr Lance O’Brien).

“One of the key determinants of profitability for any dairy farmer is how they manage grass growth. The better they manage their grass, the better quality feed their herd is getting, and they get a higher quality and quantity of milk. It can have a huge impact on profitability for dairy farms. There are Apps to measure grass growth– the farmer has a simple sensor attached to their wellies and when they walk the farm the sensor measures the level of grass growth and they rotate their herd based on that data. With a lot of these innovations, they give the farmer a lot more information than they have had before. It’s the datafication of agriculture and instead of relying on gut feel as to how they should rotate the herd, they are now using technology. (Michael McMahon, Senior Manager Strategy & Operations, Deloitte)

“The integration of digital technology into all aspects of agribusiness is fast evolving and will be necessary for it to improve sustainability. The collection of data and the use of algorithms will assist in the intuition that a farmer has for the land, helping inform decisions on improving yield while reducing the quantity of inputs applied to the farm. The collected data will ultimately go towards assuring the consumer – for example about the provenance of the products they purchase.” (David Meagher, Head of Agribusiness at KPMG)

Drones:

These are not yet commonplace in Ireland in terms of agri-tech and are used more often on large scale or industrial operations in the US. People are not investing at the same scale as a farmer in the US. A huge crop farmer over there might be employing drones to spray and monitor crops. They have the potential to be useful in soil and field analysis, planting, crop spraying, crop monitoring, irrigation and health assessment . (Michael McMahon, Senior Manager Strategy & Operations, Deloitte)