Empowering farmers

AgNav is a free digital platform for Irish farmers, developed through a partnership between Tea­gasc, Bord Bia and ICBF, and sup­ported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It provides reliable, science-based insights to support farmers’ environmental and economic goals. 

Using AgNav, farmers can create customised farm sustainability action plans helping to reduce emissions, improve water quality, and enhance farmland biodiversity. AgNav is currently available to all beef, dairy, and tillage farmers, including members of Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme – Ireland’s food and drink sustainability programme, which operates on a national scale, uniting government, the private sector and the full supply chain from farmers to food producers and right through to the foodservice and retail sectors. These businesses account for 90 per cent of exports and 70 per cent of domestic retail in Ireland. 

Assess 

AgNav shows an assessment of current farm performance using data from Origin Green farm audits, ICBF, Teagasc (Ireland’s farm and research development authority) and farmer-completed surveys. For beef and dairy farms, this data is automatically entered into AgNav, which removes the need for farmers to do it themselves. Scientific models developed by Teagasc then use this data to calculate the individual farm’s performance under key sustainability metrics: 

• Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
• Ammonia emissions 
• Production
• Nutrient balance
• Soil carbon 

Soil carbon will only be calculated if a farmer chooses to complete an AgNav-hosted survey on their farm’s soils. If they do, AgNav will calculate how much carbon is captured in their soil and can adjust the farm’s GHG emissions accordingly.  

Analyse 

The AgNav Forecaster is a core feature of the AgNav platform, and is currently available for dairy and beef enterprises. Farmers, or their advisers, can use the forecaster to analyse how changes in farming practices and management can impact each sustainability metric.  

Act 

Based on the forecaster analysis, beef and dairy farmers can identify which actions are most appropriate for their farm, allowing them to create a personalised farm sustainability action plan. Farmers can choose actions to address water quality, gaseous farm emissions, and biodiversity.   

Irish farmers are responding positively through using the platform and as a result AgNav is being recognised. It was awarded Sustainability Initiative of the Year at the Grocer Gold Awards in London this summer, beating six other finalists in the sustainable products and services category. 

This win marks AgNav’s second UK award this year, following earlier success in winning the Sustainability Award at the British Culinary Federation Awards. In addition to these two UK awards, AgNav was also highly commended in the Best Dairy Sustainability Initiative at the Irish National Dairy Awards.

Winning both these awards is a strong endorsement from our industry peers, and helps to increase the visibility and credibility of AgNav as a leading sustainability platform. On behalf of our AgNav partners, Teagasc and ICBF, I’d like to thank the thousands of Irish farmers who are using AgNav and implementing important sustainability actions on their farms.

While AgNav is principally a tool for farmers, it is also a useful platform in conversations with key retail and foodservice operators, who are placing increasing value on verifiable sustainability action at farm level. With over 16,000 farmers signed-up to AgNav, it helps us to demonstrate Ireland’s ambitions and ongoing efforts in agricultural sustainability under Origin Green internationally. 

For more information, visit:

www.origingreen.ie

About the sponsor

Headquartered in Dublin, Bord Bia supports the national and international ambitions of Irish food, drink and horticulture businesses.

Origin Green is the Bord Bia sustainability programme. It is the only one in the world which operates at a national level and which includes farmers and primary producers, processors and retailers working together and leading the way to create a better future for all involved.