Wicklow agri-business wins award at innovation competition
A WICKLOW business has won a farm innovation award at this year’s National Ploughing Championships.
Peter O’Sullivan of Bullseye Engineering was among the 12 category winners at Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena Awards competition held in association with the National Ploughing Association.
The Innovation Arena traditionally showcases agri-related products and innovations from Irish agri-companies at the National Ploughing Championships, but this year’s competition was moved online due to the cancellation of the event as a result of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
Instead, shortlisted businesses pitched their designs to a virtual judging panel over the course of two days. Winners of this year’s awards are automatically eligible to exhibit in the ‘2020 Winners Enclosure Section’ at the Innovation Arena in 2021.
Minister of State for Employment Affairs and Retail Businesses Damien English said: ‘Enterprise Ireland’s annual Innovation Arena Awards represent the future of Irish agri-tech and highlight new product development as well as the innovative agri-tech and agri-engineering capability in the Irish agriculture sector.
‘I am delighted to see such a vast range of innovative concepts and ideas being brought to fruition from entrepreneurs and farm experts from all around the country.
‘Ireland’s innovative contribution to advances in agri-business is recognised globally and we are leading the way with technology solutions that improve efficiencies through greater automation. This puts us in a great position to take advantage of the significant overseas opportunities for this sector which will help to drive economic growth.’
This year’s overall winner was Malone Farm Machinery in Co Mayo. The company’s winning entry is the Malone Express, a 16-bale trailer which can accommodate 16 round bales on a chassis that is shorter than other comparable machines on the market. This innovation makes the implement easier to manoeuvre while accommodating a large quantity of bales.