Smurfit-backed tech firm ploughing ahead

A fledgling tech firm backed by Michael Smurfit’s family trust launched to market at the National Ploughing Championships last week.

Niall Austin holds up a Moocall calving alert sensor on the final day of the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co Laois, on Thursday. Picture: Barbara Lindberg

A fledgling tech firm backed by Michael Smurfit’s family trust launched to market at the National Ploughing Championships last week, attracting considerable attention from farmers attending the event.

Moocall Sensors, which makes an alert system to tell farmers when cows are about to give birth, is the product of three years’ work by Offaly farmer Niall Austin, who has led the research and development behind the gadget.

Sensor technology sends a text message ...