European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan visited Dairymaster to discuss some of the opportunities and challenges facing the dairy industry across Europe over the next 10 years.

He also noted some of the innovations that are happening first hand, according to Dairymaster.

The commissioner had been in attendance at the pre-launch of the new degree programme in International Agricultural Engineering at the Institute of Technology (IT) Tralee earlier today, Friday, April 5.

Commissioner Hogan stated: “Efficiency, sustainability and food safety is key for the future and digitisation and new technology will be very important.

“I am delighted to see Dairymaster playing a leading role in this regard globally.”

In Ireland alone, recent research highlighted that there is an additional 6,000 labour units required by 2025.

While on the face of it this may seem an insurmountable issue, technology is the way forward, according to Dairymaster.

With technology prevalent in all our lives, providing accurate information at farmers’ fingertips, the dairy industry has been utilising digitalisation and connectivity to make their farms more efficient and profitable, according to the Kerry-based firm.

Prof Edmond Harty, CEO of Dairymaster, stated: “Innovating and building better products along with excellent customer service is what we are all about and it’s nice to have people visit to see what happens behind the scenes and where the future is going.”