Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 31 March 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Matthew Macken:

We are big believers that data is knowledge. The more data we have, the more data we can use and the more use this technology has. On grass measuring, it would be similar to what Mr. Dolan mentioned in terms of harvest yields. I use the PastureBase system, so I am well aware of it. It is a fantastic system that was designed by a neighbour of mine. That can all be overlaid in terms of how much yield a particular field or paddock is growing during a certain growing season. That can all be inputted into an overlay software system such as this. Typically, our data use GIS software and it is just a matter of overlaying these different layers together so that yields and so on can be put together and put forward.