Local company gets top award

Herdwatch, the agri-technology company headquartered in Roscrea, has won the Champion Award at the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena at the National Ploughing Championships, after unveiling Herdi, the world’s first context-aware AI Farm Assistant aimed at livestock farmers.

The award, announced at Screggan, Tullamore, recognises Herdwatch as a leading Irish innovator in agriculture for 2025.

Herdi - short for ‘Herd Intelligence’ - uses artificial intelligence to provide instant, reliable answers to herd-specific and general farming questions directly through the Herdwatch app. By understanding the context of a farmer’s own herd records, location, breeding data and compliance needs, Herdi delivers tailored advice and calculations in seconds.

James Greevy, Herdwatch’s Director of Product, said the goal is to make complex farm data useful in real time: “Farmers are drowning in data spread across too many places. Herdi brings it together and gives one clear answer that can be acted on immediately.”

Agri-influencer Philip Stewart (Farmer Phil) described it as a “game-changer”. He added: “I used to spend ages working out averages or hunting for information. Now I just ask Herdi and it’s done in seconds.”

Local farmer Andrew Darmody highlighted the time savings. “Finding one answer online could take 15 minutes. Herdi gives it to me in five seconds. That’s time back for farming.”

To address concerns about AI and privacy, Herdwatch Director of Technology, Pat Bolger, stressed that farm data remains fully secure.

“Your data never leaves your account. Herdi doesn’t share it, store it, or learn from it. It’s private advice, for you alone.”

Herdi is now available within the Herdwatch app and was demonstrated at the National Ploughing Championships.

Founded in Tipperary over a decade ago, Herdwatch now supports over 22,000 farmers worldwide. The company says Herdi represents the next step in using Irish innovation to make farming more efficient, sustainable, and competitive.