Ploughing 2026: the AI and agri-tech worth your time at Screggan

Ploughing 2026 runs Tuesday 15 to Thursday 17 September at Screggan, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, with around 250,000 visitors expected. If AI and farm tech are what you're going for, one venue does the heavy lifting: the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena. About 40 exhibitors, and this year's emphasis is squarely on sustainability, climate and AI. Here is how to spend your day well.

Why the Innovation Arena is the stop that matters

The Ploughing is enormous — this is the 95th championships, and last year drew 225,500 people. You cannot walk it all. If your interest is tools that might actually earn a place on your farm, the Innovation Arena concentrates the newest of them in one marquee.

It is in its 13th year, and the 2026 theme is "Helping Irish Agri Business Go Global." Around 40 companies exhibit, most of them Irish start-ups you will not see at a machinery stand.

The awards are the shortcut. Twelve finalists — three in each of four categories — pitch live in front of judges and the audience on day one, Tuesday 15 September. Stand at the back of that for an hour. You will hear the next two years of Irish agri-tech, failures and costs included.

The four categories for 2026:

• Start-Up Innovator of the Year — €10,000 prize plus mentoring and specialist supports
• Innovation Arena Champion Award — established companies scaling an innovation
• Green Impact Award — sustainable food and farming
• Young Innovator of the Year — new for 2026, open to second- and third-level students

Updated 16 September 2026. The pitches happened on Tuesday and the four awards went to: Telenostic (Kilkenny), Innovation Arena Champion, for OvaCyte, an AI-powered parasite egg count at the point of care; VetPal Technology (Roscommon), Start-Up of the Year and the €10,000, for a digital veterinary prescription platform that plugs into DAFM's National Veterinary Prescription System; Terra NutriTECH (Kildare), Green Impact Award, for CH4Guard, a methane-reducing supplement dosed through the water line; and MastiTrak, a team of MTU students, the first Young Innovator of the Year. Other finalists on the floor included Solnua (genetics), Slurryquip (remote slurry pump), WireLessCam (portable farm camera), FURROW and RT Sales' Hitch Hero. Two of the four winners are AI or data products aimed at the vet, not the field: the diagnosis and the paperwork. That is where the money went this year. We look at what each winner does and what it has not published yet.

What last year's winners tell you

The 2025 winners are a fair guide to the standard, and all three had AI or data at the core.

ScanInsights (Cork) took Start-Up of the Year with AI-based cattle scanning built on 2.5 million scans — a phone and an ultrasound scanner instead of a specialist rig. GlasPort Bio (Galway) won the Green Impact award for a manure-management system that cuts emissions while reducing agitation time. Herdwatch (Tipperary) took the Champion award for an AI assistant that helps livestock farmers interpret their own farm data.

Notice the pattern: none of these is "AI" as a gadget. Each one takes a job you already do — scanning, slurry, records — and does it cheaper, faster or safer. That is the test to apply at every stand. Our guide to evaluating any farm tech tool gives you the exact questions; the short version is: what job, what cost, what proof.

Where else the tech is

Teagasc's "Science Supporting Farming" marquee is the other fixed point. Teagasc's Ploughing hub lists specialists on farm management, succession and sustainability. There is a grassland demo on clover and multispecies swards to cut chemical nitrogen, and indoor consultations including soil health testing. If you use PastureBase or are thinking about it, this is where to ask your questions in person.

The machinery lines are bigger this year — pre-event coverage in the Offaly Independent reports an increase in machinery exhibitors and a number of new companies for 2026. Before you price GPS, auto-steer or camera kit there, it is worth knowing what the software side already does: we have reviewed every AI tool for Irish cattle farmers we could find, and the cheapest useful option is usually not on a trade stand.

What does Ploughing 2026 cost to attend?

Pre-booked adult tickets are €30 per day. Seniors and secondary students pay €25, groups of ten or more €27 each, school groups €20. At the gate it is €35, so book ahead. Children under 12 go free with a paying adult.

How do you get to Screggan?

Two practical routes:

• Train plus shuttle. Bus Éireann shuttles run from Tullamore station (7:00am to 12:30pm) and Portarlington station (6:30am to 12:15pm). Returns leave the site from 1:30pm for both, with the last Tullamore departure at 7:00pm and the last Portarlington departure at 7:20pm. Use the National Ploughing Association's own 2026 shuttle timetable rather than Transport for Ireland, which was still showing a 2:40pm Tullamore return when we checked on 29 August.
• Driving. Eight colour-coded traffic routes feed designated car parks — Blue from Cork and Munster, Purple from Dublin, Pink from the north, Green from the west. Follow your colour, not your satnav. Disability parking is available.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Innovation Arena free once you're in? Yes. It is a marquee inside the event — your day ticket covers it. The live award pitches happen on day one, Tuesday 15 September, and with about 40 exhibitors it is small enough to walk properly rather than sample.

When are the Innovation Arena finalists announced? The 2026 winners were announced on Tuesday 15 September: Telenostic (Champion), VetPal Technology (Start-Up of the Year), Terra NutriTECH (Green Impact) and MastiTrak (Young Innovator). The full finalist list is on the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena page.

Is it worth going just for the tech? One day is enough for the tech. Do the Innovation Arena in the morning, the Teagasc marquee after lunch, and machinery lines last. Bring the costs of your current tools — a stand demo only means something measured against what you pay and do today.

The bottom line

Ploughing 2026 rewards a plan. Go Tuesday if you can, stand through the Innovation Arena pitches, apply the same three questions at every stand — what job, what cost, what proof — and book the €30 ticket before it becomes €35 at the gate.