Farmers are getting tech savvy

FREE ONE DAY COURSE AT CIT ON SMART TECHNOLOGY TO ASSIST FARMING COMMUNITY

IRISH farmers know quite a bit about downloading and, into the bargain, uploading. And when it comes to the information superhighway they are leading the way in all forms of Smart Technology.

According to an upcoming seminar which will be held at CIT (Cork Institute of Technology), Irish farmers are world leaders for adopting mobile technologies and leading the mobile revolution.

An innovative European Funded Erasmus + research project, ‘Smart Rural’ is looking at how mobile applications can be used to enhance agricultural activities as well as improving productivity, social and economic activities in rural communities. The project is aimed at farmers, their spouses or indeed anyone with an interest in agriculture and technology.

Catherine Murphy, Project Manager for the Smart Rural Projects at CIT, believes that the training in mobile devices and usage will open up many new useful applications for the farming community. “Our research shows that farmers are keen to avail of new technologies to support farm efficiency. The training course will support farmers who want to learn more about farming and related apps,” she said.

Farmers are now very much using mobile applications to save time and money.

Mike Brady, Agricultural Consultant said that productivity was key in today’s market. “Apps like Done Deal, for example, are firmly putting farmers in the driving seat when it comes to buying and selling goods and services on line. Other apps such as Whats App are extremely popular among the farming community, allowing for new conversations, knowledge exchange, new farming videos and new farming techniques to be exchanged.”

Training will take place in mid January 2018 in the form of a one-day training course and follow-on field trip the week after to an agricultural technology facility in Cork.

This training is free for all participants. To apply go to www.cit.ie/smartrural or email smartrural@cit.ie or phone 021 4335920.