Welcome to the Dairy Dragons

Three companies with innovative products will each be giving a three-minute ‘Elevator Pitch’ on stage for a chance to be the winner of the second annual Irish Farmers Journal ‘Dairy Day’ Innovation Award.

The event is hosted by Irish Farmers Journal renewables editor and RTÉ Ear to the Ground presenter Stephen Robb.

The specially selected judges will be from the fields of farming, academia and research and will consider each pitch based on the following criteria when deciding on what product should win the award:

1. Labour-saving: does the product contribute to a reduction in labour on dairy farms and/or improve work-life balance?

2. Animal welfare: is the product likely to improve animal welfare or animal health?

3. Sustainability: does the product improve environmental sustainability of dairy farms?

4. Return on investment: does the product deliver a strong return on investment to dairy farmers?

5. The quality of the pitch: did the company representative communicate the product attributes fairly and accurately?

SmaXtec claims it can manage tomorrow’s health today using its automated heat and herd health technology.

The company says it makes this a reality with artificial intelligence-driven health management. Using unique bolus technology, smaXtec gathers precise data from inside the cow’s reticulum.

Digital assistant

With the revolutionary digital assistant, farmers are two steps ahead. Acting as a virtual employee, it generates automated management lists and reports, simplifying tasks via smartphone or PC.

It allows farmers to act early by using disease indication notifications from the smaXtec AI TruAdviceTM to implement optimised action plans. Particularly useful for large farms, it streamlines workflows and saves time, helping farmers to better organise their staff. The digital assistant offers pre-configured templates, customisable to each farm’s needs.

CattleEye offers an artificial intelligence powered, hardware-free monitoring solution which the company says revolutionises dairy farming by providing real-time insights into herd health. GEA says the system empowers farmers to reduce operational costs, improve herd welfare, and increase productivity, all without the need for costly and complex wearable devices.

It has the ability to save farms up to €210 per cow annually (€120 for lameness and €90 for BCS). It says when used in addition to effective on-farm foot trimming it can reduce lameness by 50%. CattleEye says it ensures that dairy operations run more efficiently and sustainably, while helping farmers to meet modern compliance and environmental standards.

It says that this combination of cost-effectiveness, innovation, and sustainability sets CattleEye apart as the ideal solution for large-scale dairy operations.

An extra €7,000 profit for the average Irish dairy farmer? This is the proven potential of white clover in our grass swards, but it is not repeatably realised on farm, according to Goldcrop.

Developed by Pasture Innovations, the Clodagh variety of white clover is the next generation of white clover genetics. With improved traits to address the limitations of current clovers, it sets a new standard for long-term, robust and repeatable seasonal and total yield across a range of managements and conditions. Goldcrop says that Clodagh will deliver more for Irish farmers than any previous variety of white clover.

Realising the potential of white clover in sward performance, animal performance, farm profitability and ultimately future sustainability, which it says is backed up by independent variety trials.