AgTech Ireland

31/05/2026

29/05/2026

Great to welcome the Dutch Innovation Mission to the AgTech UCD Innovation Centre yesterday for a joint AgTech Ireland/Dutch Embassy session on digitisation in livestock farming.

Pitching, introductions and engagement. Strong discussions on AI, farm data, technology adoption and the importance of keeping farmers at the centre of innovation.

Thanks to all participating companies and speakers — lots of new connections and collaboration opportunities ahead.



Enterprise Ireland
Embassy of the Netherlands in Ireland
Pearson Milking Technology
Dairymaster
Herdwatch
Alltech
Abbey Machinery

15/05/2026

08/05/2026

07/05/2026

🌟 Great AgTech Ireland member-hosted session with FARMEYE (now Senus) in Athlone yesterday.

A huge thank you to Eoghan Finneran, Brendan Allen, Hugh Sturrock, Stephen Coen and the wider Senus team for sharing insights into the company’s journey from university spin-out to Euronext-listed business operating across 16 countries.

📡 Discussions covered soil health, carbon and biodiversity MRV, geospatial AI and remote sensing, compliance, and the growing importance of trusted environmental data for agrifood, finance and sustainability reporting.

💶 Brendan Allen also shared valuable insights on the company’s Euronext journey, highlighting both the opportunities and governance responsibilities that come with public listing.

🙏 Thanks also to TJ Hughes from Enterprise Ireland for outlining supports available to scaling agtech companies, and to Lorcan Bannon for facilitating an excellent discussion.

Great engagement from all attendees — thanks to everyone who joined us!

01/05/2026

agtechireland
Be the first to

📰 Our Spring newsletter is out! 📰

🌟 Find out what we have been up to to enable our member companies to learn, help raise awareness of sector and shape agricultural and business policy through official engagements with government Ministers at home and EU decision makers in Brussels
🤝 Meet our new Board Director Nicola Cogan
💡 Discover our extensive programme of member-only events and activities
👀 See some of our new 2026 members

https://mailchi.mp/798e71a7de0a/agtech-ireland-newsletter-10345059?e=84a2f2bb9d

And if this inspires us to join, you can do so here: https://agtechireland.ie/become-a-member/ or contact [email protected]

29/04/2026

🌟 Last week, a delegation from our Board had a very productive engagement this week with Minister Peter Burke TD, his special advisor Laura Mannion, alongside Enterprise Ireland colleagues Carmel Moloney and Emma Jane Hade, on the future of Ireland’s hashtag sector. 🌟

👉 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻:

• 𝗔𝗴𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 – Strong recognition of the sector’s role in driving rural employment and supporting balanced economic development across Ireland.

• 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 – A clear challenge was set: Halter is a beacon of New Zealand’s agtech sector, recently valued at NZ$3.4bn. Why shouldn’t the next agtech hashtag be built in Ireland? With the right policy alignment and support, the opportunity is within reach.

• 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 – Significant opportunities exist for Irish agtech to support food security globally, particularly in developing markets seeking scalable farming systems and technology, and relationships with those markets need to be developed.

• 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 – While funding is available, companies need clearer pathways, greater flexibility, and earlier engagement to accelerate innovation and reduce risk.

• 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆, 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 – Closer alignment across stakeholders will be critical to keep pace with rapid change in agriculture and technology.

• 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – AgTech Ireland will develop a policy position paper and deepen engagement with government and Enterprise Ireland to unlock the sector’s full potential.

For AgTech Ireland and its member companies, these engagements are vital opportunities to demonstrate the sector’s contribution and potential, highlight the needs of our industry, and reinforce our role as a credible and influential voice on their behalf.
It is essential that we would encourage government and state agency action in the right direction, with a shared ambition to ensure Ireland remains at the forefront of agtech innovation.

17/04/2026

✨ Demystifying AI for agtech SMEs ✨

First AgTech Ireland webinar on AI for global agtech SMEs

is increasingly shaping the future of , but for SMEs, understanding how and when to adopt it remains a key challenge.

This first AgTech Ireland webinar, in collaboration with James Cogley, Principal Applied Science Manager at Microsoft, was hosted and ably MCd by Irish Farmers Journal's Head of Sales and AgTech Ireland Board Director John Heslin.
In conversation with John, and then in response to participants' questions, James demystified AI and offered practical guidance for businesses navigating its adoption.

AI is software that learns from data to make predictions or decisions. It is only a tool, one that can produce flawed outcomes if trained on biased or incomplete data.

The hierarchy within AI goes from broad AI systems to machine learning (ML), and further into deep learning, which uses complex neural networks.

Foundational models, pre-trained on vast datasets, are a major recent development, enabling businesses to build applications more efficiently.
Rules-based systems (as opposed to ML systems) are predictable and easy to audit but can become rigid and difficult to scale. ML systems are more flexible but often lack transparency, making their decisions harder to interpret, or trust.

James and our audience also explored the ML pipeline, emphasizing that successful AI implementation requires collecting and cleaning data, training models, validating them with test data, and continuously monitoring performance after deployment.

In agtech, AI is already being applied in areas such as advanced analytics, anomaly detection in crops or environmental conditions, and computer vision for monitoring animal health.
However, SMEs face several barriers, including limited access to high-quality data, concerns around explainability, connectivity challenges in rural areas, and a shortage of specialized talent.

A simple three-step framework can help deal with these issues:
👉 clearly define the business problem,
👉 assess whether sufficient quality data exists,
👉 determine whether AI is the right solution compared to simpler alternatives.

💡 And possibly the best piece of advice: do not adopt AI for its own sake.

Due diligence is crucial: data privacy, licensing, and the differences between enterprise-grade and consumer AI tools must be carefully considered before implementation.

With input from our members on other AI related topics of value to them and their businesses, we hope to develop from this one-off webinar to a series our members will have exclusive access to.

Watch this space!

And if you are interested, why not join AgTech Ireland? 🔗https://agtechireland.ie/become-a-member/

12/04/2026