With technology on farms increasing, the ability of farms to generate huge amounts of data is dramatically increasing. Opening the day, director of Teagasc Gerry Boyle said that there is limitless potential to generate new data with sensors. This was highlighted when Dairymaster’s John Daly said that they generate three million data points for each cow every single day.

Gerry Boyle said the key will be to analyse it to generate real-time information that farmers can use for management decisions. However, he said that farmers have to retain ownership of data they generate to ensure they reap the benefits.

The EU Commission’s Dr John Bell said there is already a battleground among some companies for control of the data generated by farmers.

GPS technology

Carlow tillage farmer Kevin Nolan showed how he has invested to allow him to use new GPS technology, such as variable-rate lime, potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen spreading, as well as using the telematics on machinery which record the data every 15 seconds.

The cost of these technologies is reducing, making it affordable once you have the scale. Kevin identified that the saving in time, fuel and machinery wear, as well as reduced inputs, can save €15,000 per year on a 500ha tillage farm.

IBM’s Vincent McKey said that it has 3,000 researchers focused on smart agricultural research. They work with partners to develop platforms for the analysis of the data that create added value. IBM recently purchased The Weather Company, which is a significant change in what IBM is going to be doing, as it gives access to over three billion weather points around the world.

Read more in next week’s Irish Farmers Journal.

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