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Farmers are adopting new technology as quickly as it becomes available to help solve problems on their farms, delegates at the 2019 Agri Careers Expo were told.
Farmers sat down after their Christmas dinner to order cattle tags online, Ursula Kelly of Cormac Tagging revealed.
“Fifty per cent of our turnover is online,” she revealed.
The collaboration of software with technology is going to make life easier
“And between 9pm and 11pm is our busiest time of the day for tag orders.”
“We were fascinated to see sales even on Christmas day – farmers were swiping away on their iPads after dinner, nothing for nothing!” she laughed.
Evolution
Kelly and her father TJ Gormley, founder of Cormac Sheep Equipment and Tuam Farm Supplies, shared how their business has evolved over 30 years.
“We reared our family on the back of sheep, five kids,” Gormley said.
In the last 10 years the focus has moved to tags and newer technology, driven mainly by his daughter Ursula.
“Ten years ago, tags were just a piece of plastic with numbers on them,” she said. “Now, with electronic and genomic tags, there are huge opportunities.
“The collaboration of software with technology is going to make life easier. Animal identification and electronics, especially with the ongoing labour shortages on farms, are going to play a huge role on farms.”
“There is technology out there that has not yet been applied to agriculture, there are huge opportunities,” she added.
Electronic tagging
Cormac Tagging has captured 40% of the market for electronic tags in Ireland in 26 months of business.
Dairy farmers in Munster have been a key driver of their success.
“Cork looked after us well,” remarked Kelly.
The company’s latest move is a collaboration with Herdwatch that allows farmers to order lost tags easily using the Department of Agriculture database.
Kelly credited her father with instilling a strong work ethic in their family.
“We saw the value of hard work and Dad is still innovating today,” she pointed out.
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