A Roscommon company is set to begin a six-month research project into the importance of hedgerows and biodiversity by using satellites orbiting earth.
Farm-Eye, which is based in Taughmaconnell, was the only Irish firm to be approved for funding through the latest round of the Responsible Agri Tech Kick-start Initiative.
The company currently provides a digital soil management system for farmers across Ireland and is now hoping to use space age technology to estimate the size, structure and characteristics of hedgerows and the use the information to build a picture of their importance to the Irish natural works.
Eoghan Finneran is CEO of the Roscommon firm which currently employs four people.
He says that they hope their research can play a role in discovering more about climate change as well as how to slow its effects.