Ireland’s agritech sector was out in force at the National Ploughing Championships, with more than 40 businesses showcasing technologies aimed at reducing labour, improving compliance, cutting emissions and helping farmers make better decisions.
The Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena highlights a sector increasingly focused on digital tools, automation and data-driven livestock management.
Irish agritech firms supported by Enterprise Ireland generated €844 million of exports in 2025 and employ more than 5000 people.
Among this year’s headline winners was VetPal, which took the €10,000 Start-Up of the Year award. The Roscommon company has developed a system that digitises veterinary prescription management, linking farmers, vets, co-ops, merchants and pharmacies.
The company says it is integrated with Ireland’s National Veterinary Prescription System.
The Innovation Arena Champion award went to Telenostic for its Ovacyte technology, designed to speed up parasite diagnosis and reduce reliance on laboratory testing.
TERRA NutriTECH received the Green Impact Award for precision mineral dosing technology aimed at delivering methane-reducing supplements through livestock water systems.
MastiTrak, developed by students at Munster Technological University, won the Young Innovator of the Year title. The system aims to identify mastitis at quarter level in dairy cows, helping farmers intervene earlier and potentially reduce antibiotic use. It won the Young Innovator of the Year title.
Several businesses focused on compliance and farm administration. The Irish Farmers Journal’s Farm Alert platform provides health planning reminders, while Herdwatch’s farm management software is now used on more than 20,000 farms across Ireland and the UK for livestock records, medicine recording and regulatory compliance.
Micron Agritech is developing rapid worm testing and resistance monitoring tools, while Genocells is targeting high somatic cell counts through DNA analysis of milk samples.
Technology designed to save labour was another recurring theme. Slurryquip showcased a pumping system intended to allow one-person slurry operations, while WG Fabrications displayed a compact bale-moving system capable of transporting 11 bales within a 2.4m transport width.
RT Sales presented the Hedge Hero mounting system, designed to reduce stress on tractors carrying heavy hedge-cutting equipment.
The sustainability agenda was also prominent. GlasPort Bio is developing slurry additives aimed at reducing methane, ammonia and nitrate emissions, while WildSurge Technologies is investigating the production of nitrogen fertiliser from water, air and renewable electricity.
Elsewhere, Equine MediRecord demonstrated how it has become a global compliance platform for racehorse medicine records, operating across major racing jurisdictions including Britain, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Australia.
The exhibits underlined how Irish agritech innovation is increasingly focused on practical farm challenges, from animal health and labour to compliance and emissions.
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