Product development to monitor and manage cattle methane emissions
Groundbreaking Technology
AgriData Analytics, a company founded in Daingean, Co. Offaly, is dedicated to revolutionising agricultural engineering by creating innovative solutions to monitor and manage methane emissions from cattle. To support their goal of developing cutting-edge machines that accurately measure methane production, they partnered with IMaR Technology Gateway to help develop their product and automate the capture and recording process.
The initial project saw IMaR identify best-in-class product capabilities for measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, in terms of both what is measured and the accuracy of the measurement. These capabilities were then prioritised as actions for consideration for product integration.
The next stage, again supported by an Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher, was concerned with control of the measurement cycle. The cow tag, used for electronic identification by way of an RFID tag, initiates the cycle, triggers feed release and starts the air intake to capture the cow’s breath output. The read sensor obtains methane level measurements and stores these measurements for later analysis.
Product Development
Through a directly funded project element, IMaR produced an optimum design for a unit to house the electronics and sensors, accommodate cow approach and feed release, and funnel air to the methane sensors. The resultant design was shared by way of CAD drawings, simplifying production of the housing.
The system captures multiple readings per cow visit. A cow can visit the machine several times per day, and multiple cows have access to the system, generating significant volumes of data. To understand average readings per cow, herd averages and comparisons between animals, detailed analysis is required.
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Irish Startup
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Innovation vouchers
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Direct funding
“Working with the IMaR Technology Gateway and MTU has been a hugely valuable part of the development journey for AgriData Analytics and our Bovine Breathalyser system. From the outset, the team at MTU brought strong technical expertise, practical problem-solving and a collaborative mindset to the project. Their support in areas such as RFID integration, 3D product design and backend software development was instrumental in transforming our concept into a functional, field-ready technology. The ability to combine engineering design with software development under one roof significantly accelerated our progress.
The IMaR Technology Gateway provided an ideal bridge between academic expertise and commercial application. The structured approach, access to specialist facilities and clear focus on real-world outcomes allowed us to de-risk critical stages of development and bring an innovative product closer to market.This collaboration has played a key role in advancing our mission to deliver accurate, scalable methane measurement technology for ruminant livestock, supporting both environmental sustainability and data-driven farming. We would highly recommend MTU and the IMaR Technology Gateway to any company looking to innovate, prototype and commercialise new technology..”
Jack Pilkington – Founder, AgriData Analytics
AgriData Analytics & IMaR Technology Gateway partnership
In the current iteration of development, IMaR extended the data capture and storage system to automatically generate a daily livestock visit report. This provides per-cow and herd averages, both numerically and graphically, and automatically forwards the report along with the raw data to stakeholders, significantly simplifying analysis.