Irish agritech company Piper Systems has struck a €1.8 million deal with the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the largest dairy union in the US, encompassing around 6,000 farms. The agreement includes buying Piper’s systems in the central and southeast of the US, to guarantee fair payments for farmers’ milk.
Piper Systems’ hardware enhances milk collection, loading, and sampling through the use of automated systems and data. It can be used on the farm or tanker, providing precise sampling to grade milk correctly and pay out farmers, as well as traceability at all stages of the chain. As an added bonus, the system is modular, for quick and easy repairs if needed.
The €1.8 million capital investment in the equipment could also bring in more revenue from data streams. CEO Leigh Hamilton stated there is “further opportunity with DFA to do business over the next couple years that we’ll be pursuing.” They will also be targeting other large cooperatives in the US.
The development of Piper’s systems in the US was stalled by the Covid-19 pandemic, after years of effort to update the regulations and get the technology in use. Hamilton noted “it’s incredible when you go abroad to market like the US, they’re the biggest dairy market in the world.” Now, the change in regulation has opened the way for Piper.
Piper, with 14 employees, has a small number of staff in the US to help grow, and their main base in Ireland where the technology is designed and maintained. They also have local installers in the US to aid customers. Their primary focus is the dairy industry, yet the technology could be repurposed for other industries if there is demand for it. According to Hamilton, “We’re always open to adjacencies. But right now, our big project will be scaling sustainably.”
