A new partnership has been announced between Teagasc and Microsoft to help farmers benefit from new and emerging technology.
It will involve the setting up of a series of projects, the first of which aims to deliver internet access to rural areas.
The technology will initially be trialled at Teagasc's 220 hectare agri-college campus in Ballyhaise, Co Cavan, with the hope of nationwide expansion in the future.
Teagasc Director Gerry Boyle said he hopes it will help solve internet connectivity issues facing farming communities.
He observed: "Because of the nature of the terrain surrounding Ballyhaise college, connectivity can be quite difficult.
"Now we're going to be able to transmit broadband to the entire farm in the first instance, and then there'll be some experimentation to the opportunity for this type of technology to reach communities outside of the college as well."
Cathriona Hallahan, Managing Director of Microsoft Ireland, said they're delighted to be partnering with Teagasc.
She said: "The projects that we will work with Teagasc on will bring real impact to farmers and we believe they can be scaled rapidly.
"This will be a game changer for farmers and rural communities.
"The findings can be used to the benefit of other rural communities – not just in Ireland but across Europe."
The pilot scheme will get underway in the next few weeks, and will run for up to eight months.
Further projects are due to focus on "precision agriculture, big data, and AI".
It comes as part of Microsoft's Airband initiative, which looks to extend internet connectivity to rural communities around the world which have typically been poorly served by technology.
