Carrickmacross man has his finger on the Agropulse...
Michael Wilde receives the phone call from the Celt to talk about his online database, while he is fitting equipment in a milking parlour. As engineer for Cookstown Dairy Services in Ardee, he has a lot of interaction with farmers, and it made him think: “What way can I apply IT better to be more useful for farmers?”
He created agripulse.ie - a “one-stop shop” for farmers where they can find all the latest Agri news from multiple sources, up to date milk, cattle, sheep, pig, and tillage prices, as well as feed. “The directory is the big, big thing,” he says. of the more than 250+ Agri service provider links, info on Agri Colleges and more.
“There are a lot of websites out there, but I spotted the lack of an integrated, up-to-date page,” the Carrickmacross native explains.
He programmed a free platform called ‘Agripulse. Markets made easy’. It has been running for just over a week now and the response has been phenomenal. “On the first day there were around 1,000 visits,” he reports. He calls the platform a “handy little resource for all farmers nationwide” - created based on his experienced gleanedworking locally in Monaghan.
To provide the most useful and correct information Michael dug deep, recalling with a laugh: “It kind of grew legs.”
He also just added a mental health section for farmers, because he felt that was important and lacking elsewhere.
While a programme does an automatic online sweep of relevant articles for the news updates, Michael has to research daily milk prices from various dairy companies every morning. “I just wanted the page to be as accurate and useful as possible.”
Relief workers
Finding relief milkers is a huge issue, he has noticed, which is why he has created a section with available relief workers.
“Farmers just can’t get guys.”
So Michael hopes, by supplying connections, hardship will be reduced.
In the directory, users can also look up hoof trimmers by region, fencing companies or sheep shearing and dipping.Trades, he says, are hard to come by. He feels this will benefit smaller companies as well: “It represents small businesses with their contact details,” says Michael - helping both sides.
The site also contains a slurry calendar and a section with grant schemes and deadlines, as well as upcoming shows help users plan ahead.
Meanwhile the ‘Agri History’ section gives insight into farming on the island.
“Some of it still shapes the co-ops, marts, and breeds around us today,” explains Michael.
He might have gone a bit over the top with that, he admits, but it proves his dedication to the cause. “I am doing it for the love of it.”
All the work and time the 38 year-old has put into the platform was voluntary. Only now has he started looking for sponsors or companies to advertise on the page, to cover a bit of the running costs, but he is determined to provide a free resource for all.