As part of the National Dairy Show’s Innovation Awards section, Herdwatch, the farm management app, received first prize in the Technology Category and was announced as the overall winner.
Held in Millstreet, Co. Cork, on Saturday (October 20), the National Dairy Show Innovation Awards aims to reward a new product or service which has been launched in the past 12 months and has revolutionised some aspect of dairy farming.
The idea that caught the judges’ eye was Herdwatch’s new Farm Medicine Scanner.
According to Herdwatch, the inspiration for the Farm Medicine Scanner derived from the issue that recording farm medicines has been a constant challenge for farmers.
Herdwatch therefore created a piece of software in an effort to make it easier for farmers to record their medicines, by allowing them to record purchases and treatments on the spot using the app.
Herdwatch product owner Gearoid Kenny has said: “The Farm Medicine Scanner is aimed at all farmers. It makes recording animal remedies easier for farmers and simply takes the stress out of the Bord Bia paperwork.”
A barcode scanner has also been added to the Herdwatch app. This allows farmers to scan their farm medicines using the camera on their smartphone.
The Herdwatch app can now recognise a barcode and identify what medicine it is and what its corresponding VPA (IRE) or VMD (UK) number is.
If there is a QR code available, the app will also be able to automatically pull in the batch-number and expiry date.
Commenting on the awards, Fabien Peyaud, Herdwatch CEO, said: “We would like to thank all the organisers of the National Dairy Show for a fantastic day, showcasing all the best in the agricultural industry.
We’re already looking forward to next year’s National Dairy Show Innovation Awards, where we plan to release even more advanced innovation.
Last year, the overall innovation award went to a start-up company- Dairy Geyser.