The world's first temperate climate grassland management tool, GrassMax, has been named as the overall winner at this year's Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena Awards.
The winners were announced at the first day of the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co Laois today.
Dublin-based GrassMax won the overall award in this year's competition, the prize for Established Innovator of the Year.
The company and its product, the GrassMax App, combines advanced modelling techniques with remote sensing data to provide easy-to-use nutrient and grass management decision-support tools
GrassMax aims is to remove the need for farmers to routinely walk their grass paddocks, optimise soil fertility and deliver verified enhancements in crop performance and resource use efficiency.
Meanwhile, Proveye won the best overall start-up award, Start-Up Innovator of the Year, and a €10,000 prize for its AI-powered digital image analysis platform.
It uses remote sensing capability to deliver image-based insights on agricultural land, giving users the ability to make timely and informed decisions to solve a range of challenges, such as maximising yield and crop management planning.
Among this year's competition entries, there was a strong focus on sustainable farming, through digital technologies, data-driven solutions and innovations to enhance efficiencies on farm.
Leo Clancy, Enterprise Ireland's chief executive, said that Irish agri-tech companies continue to have an influential impact internationally with their cutting-edge products and services that are helping to bring greater efficiencies across agriculture.
"Enterprise Ireland is committed to supporting innovative companies and entrepreneurs, and the Innovation Arena at the National Ploughing Championships provides a key platform for showcasing the achievements and capabilities of our agritech innovators to both a domestic and international audience," Mr Clancy said.
Anna May McHugh, Managing Director of the National Ploughing Association, said the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena provides an excellent opportunity for innovators in the agri-tech and agri-engineering space to showcase their products and services at Europe’s largest outdoor event.
"The standard, once again, was exceptionally high, and I want to congratulate all of today's winners and wish them all the best for the future on this great achievement," she said.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney said the Innovation Arena competition is a landmark exhibition platform and competition, as it brings together ambitious agri-innovators every year.
"Ireland is synonymous with agriculture, and it is our own entrepreneurs who are helping to shape the future of the sector globally. With the ongoing challenges and the need to develop and implement sustainable practises, the work of these Irish innovators has never been more vital," the Minister said.
Innovation Arena Awards winners 2023
Overall Innovator of the Year - Established - GrassMax (Dublin)
Start-up Innovator of the Year - Proveye (Dublin)
Agri-Engineering Award - Malone Farm Machinery (Mayo)
Smart Farming Award - Pearson Milking Technology (Kildare)
Crop Technology Award - Beotanics (Kilkenny)
Agri-Safety Award - M-TEC Engineering (Cavan)
Young Innovator of the Year - TrojanTrack (Dublin)
IFAC Best New-Comer - Livefarm (Carlow)
Ace Agritech Centre of Excellence Award - Proveye (Dublin)
On Farm Innovation (Alfred Cox Founder's Perpetual Trophy) - SpreadPoint (Down)
Research Emerging from 3rd Level Award - PolyBo (Westmeath)
Farm Software Award - Herdwatch (Tipperary)
AgTechUCD Start Up Award - Agri Data Analytics (Offaly)
Farm Automation Award - Dairymaster (Kerry)
AgriTech Award - Abbey Farm Machinery (Tipperary)
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James Maloney, Senior Development Adviser for Agritech, Climate and Sustainability at Enterprise Ireland, says the 50 companies involved in the event today work with farmers in the transition towards a greener industry.
He said the industry is seeing real advances in digital technologies and data driven solutions that are giving farmers the opportunity to look at getting "real time results" in terms of soil testing, nutrition and animal performance that enables them to make quicker decisions - which is really important for the farming sector.
The industry's current focus is on increasing productivity on farms, while minimising the impact on our climate and biodiversity in Ireland and Mr Maloney says that Irish agri firms are coming up with solutions to these problems.
Mr Maloney says that companies like former winner Brandon Bioscience looks at reducing the amount of fertiliser used on farms.
Other companies like Pearsons have adopted AI to actually look at the body condition score of an animal in the parlour when they are being milked, which allows the farmer to optimise the animal's nutrition and improve the health of the animal, reduce the use of antibiotics and also its fertility and genetics.
He said that what is positive is that the companies are willing to work and innovate, while the farmers are willing to take on the new technology.
There are also 40 international buyers at the National Ploughing Championships and Mr Maloney said it is Enterprise Ireland's goal to facilitate deals with the award winners and the buyers.
"The international buyers are blown away by the Irish hospitality - despite the weather - and the openness of the companies who talk to them and actually engage with them", Mr Maloney said.
"They feel the companies will work with them in their own countries and they look to Ireland for the solutions because we have quite an efficient dairy sector, quite strong in terms of our pasture management, and a lot of innovations that are seen on a global scale," he added.
