For Co. Longford dairy farmer Andrew McHugh, AgNav has become a key tool in managing his spring-calving herd and improving sustainability on the farm.

James Mimnagh, Teagasc Climate & Sustainability Advisor for the Roscommon/Longford Advisory Region, recently visited Andrew’s farm to find out how AgNav – the sustainability tool, developed in collaboration between Teagasc, Bord Bia and ICBF – has been of benefit.

Andrew has already introduced measures such as protected urea, red and white clover swards, effective nutrient management planning, and an effective breeding strategy – all of which are tracked through the AgNav platform, these as Andrew explains are “the little tweaks that benefit the business”.

As to what the sustainability platform brings to his farming system, Andrew explained: “Every farmer is good at some aspect of their business, whether it’s to do with the breeding and the genetics, whether it’s to do with the feeding or the grazing or whatever area within the herd, but AgNav helps bring it all together,” thus helping both the bottom line of the business but also the carbon footprint.

Through the changes already made, along with some additional tweaks, AgNav shows Andrew is on track to cut his farm’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 20%.

For more insights, watch the video below featuring Andrew McHugh and James Mimnagh:

For more on AgNav, visit here.

Find out more about the Signpost Advisory Programme here.