‘Future-proofing’ farm buildings at EuroTier

Tom Fallon, a farm building specialist with Teagasc and the group’s leader, said this type of organised travel helps IFBA members prepare for the challenges faced by their industry.

IFBA is made up of individuals from state agencies, such as Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as well as farmers and representatives from equipment manufacturers. The aim of the association is to support the agricultural sector through education and idea-sharing.

While dairy cattle spend limited amounts of time indoors in Ireland, comfort during that short period is crucial to long-term development, Fallon said. Early lactation is a pivotal time, and the housing environment plays an integral role in managing major issues such as mastitis and lameness.

Fallon was pleased to see companies utilising Irish-made Mayo Mats to improve cow comfort, and noted several ventilation systems for improving air quality. 

He was particularly intrigued by the design of French company Bioret Agri’s Delta X flooring system. The flooring system is designed with a 3% slope on either side, which helps to quickly capture urine. A scraper removes solids from the floor’s surface. According to the company, immediately separating liquids from solids results in a 70% reduction in ammonia emissions.

“I’m conscious that the majority of ammonia in the atmosphere in Ireland comes from agriculture. A lot of it would come from animal manure,” he said. “If we can do simple things like scrape passages more regularly, we’ll reduce that.” 

A total of 19 Irish companies were present at EuroTier 2024, including Irish mainstay Dairymaster. John Daly, head of research and innovation at Dairymaster, noted several other trends at EuroTier, including the rise of automation and data analytics.

As Irish farm businesses continue to grow in size and scale, Daly suggested automation will play a crucial role not only in reducing workload but also in boosting environmental sustainability, animal welfare and food quality.

Dairymaster’s DairyVue260, a farm management platform that records, analyses and displays data for equipment and cows, is designed to do just that. It integrates a wide variety of data, including heat detection and milk let down and flow rates.

“We want to make sure that nothing gets missed on the farm, that farmers are alerted in time,” said Daly.

Daly noted that while farmers are open to adopting new technology, uncertainty slows decision-making when it comes to choosing which investments to adopt.

“We need to give more certainty to farmers in terms of what the way forward is,” he said. “It worries farmers when politicians talk about reducing their herd or getting rid of the nitrates derogation.” 

“I think some of these political parties haven’t fully understood the impact that agriculture and dairying have on the rural economy,” he added. “We need to have vibrant rural communities, and we need to do that by supporting local, indigenous industry and building on natural resources.” 

Fallon agreed about the need for certainty. He added that he believed farmers should be rewarded for implementing equipment or innovation that reduces their impact on the environment.

“Maybe in time, farmers could have an individual kind of emissions profile or ceiling,” Fallon suggested. “If they have a well-designed barn or cubicle house, I would expect they’d be given credit for that at some stage.”