Technology

New fund to support innovation and adoption of agri-technology

Agovernment pledge to encourage the adoption of new farming technology by growers and livestock producers has been welcomed by industry leaders.

The Farming Investment Fund will open later this year. It follows the end of the Countryside Productivity Small Grants scheme, which part-funded purchases of farm equipment. That scheme closed in January.

Defra said the investment fund would continue to ensure support remained available for adoption of innovation and productivity improvements. In this respect, the fund has similar objectives to the scheme it replaces.

“The fund will provide targeted support to businesses so that they can invest in equipment, technology, and infrastructure that will improve their productivity and deliver environmental and other public benefits,” said Defra.

There will be two levels of the Farming Investment Fund: • Farming Equipment and Technology Fund – which will offer small grants to contribute towards the purchase of a list of specified items • Farming Transformation Fund – which will provide larger grants towards the cost of more substantial investments in equipment, technology or infrastructure, with the potential to transform business performance.

Belinda Clarke, director of AgriTechE, said: “The proposed new Farming Investment Fund will – we hope – help de-risk the investment in new technologies which we see is often a barrier to uptake by farmers.”

Ease of access to the fund would be key to its success, said Dr Clarke. She added: “We hope the outcomes will be assessed by meaningful metrics which are relevant to farmers, as well as relatively simple to capture.”

Eligible investment

Types of eligible investments could include on-farm water storage infrastructure; robotic or automated technology to improve animal health and welfare; and equipment for the processing of agricultural products.

Previous schemes have helped fund livestock handling systems

Photo credit: Agri-TechE

The scheme must be easy to access, says Belinda Clarke, of Agri-TechE

Funding will be in addition to increased investment in farmer-led research and development projects to trial and demonstrate the viability of new and existing technologies.

These technologies will be selected to address immediate on-farm productivity challenges. They will also seek to address ways that agriculture can meet targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net zero.

Example projects could include the trialling new feed additives or demonstrating the integration of autonomous farm machinery.

Sharing weather data means better decisions

More farmers are sharing weather data so they can improve decisions when it comes to crop management.

Farmers, agronomists and buying groups have embraced data collaboration – recognising its value in day-to-day farm management and the effective use of crop protection products, according to agri-weather pioneers Sencrop.

The French agri-tech startup has activated 250 private weather networks across Europe – with 25 of those networks within the UK – connecting over 9,000 on-farm stations from its total of 15,000.

“During 2020 we doubled the number of ag weather stations in the UK,” says Sencrop UK market co-ordinator Fleur van Luijk. “A quarter of our stations are connected collaboratively within a private network, enabling access to data from other stations.”

Users – whether farmers, advisers, contractors, managers or anyone else with authorisation – can retrieve all weather data in a secure, ultra-localised manner using a smartphone app or a standard browser.

Armed with this information, farmers can better anticipate weather or disease risks, allocate daily tasks to make the most of appropriate weather windows and ensure best practice when using crop protection products.

Agronomists are using shared data to improve their recommendations to customers. Processors and buyers are using it to develop harvest strategies that optimise harvest windows, while maintaining supply volumes.

Nearly one in 10 of the networks include more than 100 farmers or more than 100 stations – with customers configuring networks to suit their own needs. Over half the networks have more than 10 stations, ranging from a few square miles upwards.

Defra unveils £12m farm innovation competition

A£12m funding competition to develop new farm-focused technology has been launched by Defra and the UK Research and Innovation agency.

The Farming Innovation Pathways competition aims to make sure leading agricultural research directly benefi ts farmers – and helps to address the challenges of productivity, sustainability, and quest for net zero emissions in UK agriculture.

Defra says the competition will pave the way for R&D to boost innovation in the agricultural sector. It will build on advancements in areas such as insect farming, sustainable livestock feed, agricultural robotics and autonomous growing systems.

Successful entries will be ideas that address challenges across the agri-food sector, says Defra. These include vision-guided robotic weeding systems and novel food production systems, such as vertical farming.

Defra farm minister Victoria Prentis said: “We want to see farmers manage their businesses in a way that delivers profi table food production and the recovery of nature, using the best modern technology available today.

“Promising innovations such as robotics and automation, and novel food production systems have the potential to transform business perfor-

Novel food production has lots of potential, says Defra

mance for our farmers and help them address some of the industry’s greatest challenges.”

Funded through Defra’s Future Farming & Countryside Programme, the competition will bring together farmers, growers and businesses, enabling them to develop novel technological solutions.

Some £5m will be spent on evaluating the potential of early-stage ideas or innovations. This could then lead to further R&D to develop ideas into technically and commercially feasible projects and innovations.

The remaining £7m will be invested in industrial research – developing ideas with high-potential that target challenges affecting farmers, growers and other agribusinesses, or further developing existing solutions.

UKRI challenge director Katrina Hayter said: “Working alongside Defra for this competition will ensure a coordinated approach to support innovation to help drive future green growth and develop a world-leading sustainable agricultural sector.”

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Robot progress ‘stymied by red tape’

An over zealous approach to regulation is hampering the commercialisation of crop robots across Europe, UK researchers have told German scientists.

The regulation of crop robots was highlighted during an online presentation by James Lowenberg-DeBoer, holder of the Elizabeth Creak Chair in agri-tech applied economics at Harper Adams University.

The use of crop robots has not yet been fully realised – and the right regulatory environment needed to maximise their effect will need careful consideration, he said.

The presentation – to members of the Bavarian State Research Centre for Agriculture – drew on work completed by Harper Adams academics alongside colleagues in the UK, Europe and the USA.

Hands-free farm

Agricultural robots face similar regulatory challenges to driverless cars. The technology is more advanced than the legal framework they operate within – posing challenges for lawmakers as well as regulators.

Professor Lowenberg-DeBoer used the Harper Adams Hands Free Farm model – which uses robots to grow crops without human intervention – to estimate the impact of regulation on the sector.

“Crop robots have the potential to transform UK agriculture and create entrepreneurial opportunities on small and medium sized farms,” he said. “But it needs the right kind of regulation to foster the development and use of the technology.”

Professor Lowenberg-DeBoer is in the process of preparing the research he presented upon for publication. The session was viewed by researchers and professionals from across Europe.

The British Standards Institute is starting the process of creating a code of practice for autonomous crop equipment in the UK based on some of the fi ndings presented during the session. This should make it easier to commercialise agricultural robots.

Agri-robots have big potential – if the regulatory framework is right

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