Niamh Lynch, Ciara Shields and Paul Flynn are part of the agriculture team that will be immersing themselves in farming over the following months, to find solutions to challenges dairy farmers experience on a daily basis.

“We will be spending a lot of time on different farms, observing and helping farmers in their day-to-day tasks. We will be taking note of difficulties and challenges that they face, and try to form a helpful solution,” Niamh Lynch told the Irish Farmers Journal.

The team aim to have the needs of dairy farmers observed by January 2017 and their start-up established by June.

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Already, Niamh has visited the farm of Kevin Moran, FBD Young Farmer of the Year, and taken note of what applications he uses while running the farm.

Niamh, who has a background in software engineering and has worked in the medical and pharmacutical industries, believes she has a lot of experience she can bring to the table, along with her colleagues Paul, who has a background in education and engineering, and Ciara, who has a background in business.

Dairy farming was chosen because it is such a huge market, with so many dairy farmers in Ireland that the team can observe and help.

“The potential for growth in this area is huge,” Niamh said. “The amount of milk worldwide is growing and we want to create a start-up that will sell an international product.”

The programme is being led by NUI Galway’s Dr John Breslin, who is an entrepreneur and co-founder of boards.ie and adverts.ie.

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Academics muck in on dairy farms in search for agri-tech solutions

A team of three fellows will explore solutions to challenges dairy farmers face on a daily basis under a new entrepreneurship programme at NUI Galway.