Using digital tools to support Teagasc advisory services
The FAIRshare (Farm Advisory digital Innovation tools Realised and Shared) project is a €7million EU funded H2020 project being led by Teagasc, bringing together 22 partners from 15 countries across Europe. We found out more at the Teagasc exhibit at the National Ploughing Championships.
European agriculture is facing critical challenges over the coming decades, particularly the sustainability of food production. Electronic data generation, analytics and communication technologies have the potential to enable more accurate, faster and better decision-making on farms. It is acknowledged that a digital divide currently exists in the agricultural sector. This divide explains the gap between the adoption of digital technologies and access to digital infrastructure and services.
There are many different factors that can influence the digital divide, such as the cost of adopting certain technologies, the widespread availability and understanding of technologies, aspects such as infrastructure and connectivity, and indeed the motivation of farmers to adopt digital technologies and tools. There is a danger that digitisation and future innovations may be hampered unless the farm advisory community is mobilised to take ownership of digital tools and to advocate at the user interface.
To bridge the digital divide FAIRshare aims to facilitate and enable the sharing of tools and knowledge and experience that exist with the farm advisory community. The main aim of FAIRshare is to improve agricultural advisors’ use of digital tools and services to enable better uptake of digital technologies by European farmers. Digital advisory tools and services include:
- ICT tools;
- Monitoring and Analysis tools;
- Decision Support Systems;
- Regulation and Quality Control/Assurance tools.
Owen Power, Teagasc Dairy Advisor based out of Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, tells us more on the FairShare Project and how it has helped in his completion of advisory services in the below video:
FAIRshare Final Conference
FAIRshare is currently in its final year and is preparing a final conference to present project results. The conference will take place on October 2nd and 3rd in Thessaloniki, Greece. The conference will bring together agricultural advisors, researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders to discuss the project's outcomes and their implications for the digitalisation of agriculture in Europe. The goal is to share what has been learned in the last five years, and give recommendations for the future.
Get more information on the Conference
Teagasc at the National Ploughing Championships 2023
Visit us at Block 2 Row 21 Stand 337 where we have our largest exhibit ever, addressing all aspects of the farm family business. For more coverage of the National Ploughing Championships, check out the Teagasc Daily articles below:
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