Farmeye is harvesting data as rich as Ireland’s soil.
Up to 10 new direct jobs and additional spin-out businesses are to be created by agritech company Farmeye.
NUI Galway spin-out Farmeye has created an online, map-based system for sustainable soil nutrient management for agri-consultants and agronomists to manage and monitor sustainable fertiliser usage on farms.
‘We in Ireland have a good news story to tell the world about the sustainability of our grass-fed meat and dairy produce, but without efficient management of farm-level data that story gets lost’
– DR EOGHAN FINNERAN
The Farmeye NMP (nutrient management plan) portal has been approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as an alternative to the Teagasc system for preparation of compliance-based NMPs such as derogation plans.
From soil to supermarket
Founded by Dr Eoghan Finneran and Brendan Allen, Farmeye was co-funded by the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) and NUI Galway, and its start-up phase was funded through the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund.
Those involved during the NUI Galway phase included Dr Chaosheng Zhang from the School of Geography and Archaeology, and Dr Michael Schukat and Dr Hugh Melvin from the Department of Information and Technology.
“A huge amount of data is collected on farms, and much of that is either lost or misused,” said Finneran. “For example, half a million soil tests have been taken over the past 10 years, and the vast majority of those reports are buried in biscuit tins or lie forgotten in filing cabinets.”
“Farmeye provides digital solutions to capture that data and put it to work in a practical, usable manner for the soils, for the farmer and for the environment. We in Ireland have a good news story to tell the world about the sustainability of our grass-fed meat and dairy produce, but without efficient management of farm-level data that story gets lost.”
Asked what the technology can do for the farmer, Finneran responded: “The Farmeye NMP portal provides the first digital step to demonstrate sustainable soil management and quantify carbon sequestration.
“The average Irish dairy farmer could lose €9,000 per year in lost productivity and extra fertiliser bills, solely due to suboptimal soil fertility. Farmeye provide simple, easy-to-use tools that allow the farmer to make efficient, data-driven decisions on the hoof when it comes to efficient fertiliser and slurry management.”
