What is AgNav?
- AgNav is a free, voluntary digital sustainability platform, available to farmers and advisors across Ireland.
- AgNav was created through a partnership between Teagasc, Bord Bia, and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and utilises the three respective agencies’ collective knowledge by providing data, decision support and advisory within one consolidated platform.
- AgNav is a knowledge transfer support tool, empowering farmers by using verified data and providing best practice guidance to improve productivity, ensure economic viability and environmental sustainability.
- AgNav is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and has great potential to help the agricultural sector achieve its national targets.
How do you sign up for AgNav?
There are currently three ways to sign up for AgNav: directly on the AgNav website, through a processor scheme, or through the Signpost Advisory Programme.
Directly on the AgNav website
AgNav is currently available to all dairy and beef farmers if they are registered with ICBF and have completed a Bord Bia Sustainability Survey, and all tillage farmers that are members of a recognised assurance scheme.
New AgNav Dairy and Beef users do not need to sign-up for AgNav, as they already have an ICBF account. They can go directly to the log in page and enter their ICBF log-in information (email/herd code + password).
New AgNav Tillage users will need to register before they can use AgNav.
Processor schemes
Currently, 13 dairy and beef processors have integrated AgNav into their sustainability programmes to help support the achievement of corporate and sectoral climate targets. Many processors are actively helping to incentivise farmers to use AgNav and create action plans by offering financial or programme based supports.
Teagasc’s Signpost Advisory Programme
Any dairy, beef, or tillage farmer using AgNav has the option of signing up to Teagasc’s free Signpost Advisory Programme, where the farmer’s use of AgNav will be supported and facilitated by a Teagasc Advisor.
“AgNav…will enable all farmers across Ireland to set new standards in terms of the environmental sustainability of their individual farms through adoption of mitigation technologies while continuing to improve productivity and ensure economic viability.”
– Frank O’Mara, Director of Teagasc
How does AgNav benefit farmers?
- Access to your farm’s emissions figures, calculated with a model designed for Ireland.
- Access to AgNav’s decision-support tool – the Forecaster – where you can investigate the impact of changing your management practices on your farm’s emissions.
- Access to AgNav’s Action Planner, where you can select actions designed.
- A bespoke farm sustainability plan – the AgNav Sustainability Report.
- If you sign up to Teagasc’s free Signpost Advisory Programme, you can receive free, ongoing advisory support in using AgNav.
What are the Objectives of AgNav?
- Encourage and support farmers to improve the sustainability of their farms
- Leverage robust data, research and resources to drive the most appropriate actions tailored to individual farms
- Provide a mechanism to support the quantification of progress towards national targets for the agricultural sector
- Support clear communications on progress achieved at farm level
- Provide data, decision support tools, and guidance within one consolidated online platform
What are the key benefits of AgNav?
- Freely available to all farmers.
- Opt in – All subject to farmers permission.
- Maximises use of existing databases to access verifiable data and reduce resource requirements by user.
- Collaborative research to ensure scientific oversight and continuous development.
- Industry wide collaboration.
- The industry is requesting guidance and support to improve the sustainability of Irish farms and deliver on sectoral targets.
“AgNav puts the farmer in control of actions on their farm that will deliver on Climate Action. AgNav provides a whole farm sustainability assessment and includes a decision support function (forecaster tool) that allows science-led plans be made for individual farms to reduce emissions and increase sequestration.”
– Former Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue
Teagasc Climate Strategy
AgNav is one of the key pillars of the Teagasc Climate Strategy, alongside the Signpost Advisory Programme and the Teagasc Climate Centre.
More information on the Signpost Advisory Programme.
More information on the Teagasc Climate Centre.
Funding
The development of AgNav is being funded by:
