Focusing on future farming; a look at LAMMA’s latest zone

A brand-new feature to LAMMA 2020 is the Farming 4.0 Zone, which will highlight UK farming’s manufacture and adoption of innovative technology that will help underpin the future of food production. Alex Heath reports. The future of farming

ocusing on the technology of

Fthe future, including robotics, autonomy and precision farming techniques, the new zone will give a glimpse to the profi table, effi cient and environmentally friendly farms of tomorrow.

Within the Farming 4.0 Zone in hall 17, visitors will get the opportunity to see the latest technology and innovations behind the exhibitor’s products. State-of-the-art kit will be on display and you will be able to learn how it will help to drive the agricultural industry forward.

A packed agenda for both days also sees some of the most forwardthinking companies and individuals speaking about what farmers can expect in the coming years, with a diverse range of topics from drone technology to the future of the labour market.

Training

With this in mind, exhibitors in the zone will also cover training and development which will play a fundamental role in the future of farming. Machinery thought to be space age just a few years ago, is starting to come to commercial fruition.

This means there are an increasing number of career opportunities within agriculture, which were not present in the recent past, with software, computers and artifi cial intelligence playing an increasingly important role.

FARMING 4.0 ZONE PROGRAMME

Tuesday, January 7 Wednesday, January 8 Company

EXHIBITORS Z

● The AF Group ● BASIS ● Control Technologies UK Ltd ● Crop4Sight ● CropFarmer ● CropSafe ● Drone Ag Ltd ● Emerald Research ● Farmex Ltd ● IDS Imaging Development Systems Ltd ● Jobs in Agriculture ● Metronome Technologies ● Phytoform Labs Ltd ● RAU Farm 491 ● UKRI

Speaker and topic

Find out how innovative technology will drive the future of agriculture.

. . am . . pm rone Ag

couting ith drones fast, effi cient and automated crop monitoring Jack Wrangham, founder, Drone Ag 10.50-11.10am 2.10-2.30pm Farm 491 Tuesday, January 7: How AgriTech has the opportunity to empower farmers Sarah Carr, outreach manager Wednesday, January 8: Why your farming business needs a military veteran and ho to fi nd one Fiona Galbraith, Ruralink 11.40-12.00pm 12.30-12.50pm Clydesdale Bank The challenge of improving productivity in the farming sector. Brian Richardson, UK head of agriculture

12.30-12.50pm 1.20-1.40pm Cambridge Consultants How innovative technology can transform food production with AI driven precision ag Simon Jordan, senior consultant in the Applied Science group within the Industrial, Consumer and Energy division

. . pm . . pm AG taffi ng issues in the agricultural industry and hat AG is doing for its dealer network. Richard Charles, manager, aftersales customer care and training UK and Ireland

2.00-2.30pm

2.40-3.00pm Day one only

10.00-10.20am LAMMA

Loven Patents Innovation Awards Presentation Presentation of the LAMMA Founders Award. All gold innovation award winning products are eligible Patent Protection Tim Fray, patent assistant

3.20-3.40pm 2.50-3.10pm UKRI Transforming food production: from farm to fork Tom Jenkins, deputy challenge director – Transforming Food Production, Innovate UK

FARMING 4.0 ZONE SPEAKERS

JACK WRANGHAM Founder, Drone Ag

Jack Wrangham will discuss how drones have not yet become common in farming, but how the technology will soon play a much more diverse role in everyday farm tasks.

He will explain the features of a new drone app that will help farmers walk crops more effi ciently. kippy cout is to be unveiled by Drone Ag at LAMMA. It is a crop-monitoring app that uses drones to automatically capture images which are analysed by artifi cial intelligence.

RICHARD CHARLES Manager of aftersales, customer care and training UK and Ireland, AGCO

Richard Charles will be discussing staffi ng issues in the agricultural industry and what Agco, which owns tractor brands Fendt, Massey Ferguson and Valtra, is doing for its dealer network.

He will discuss the shortage of staff in the sector, with a particular focus on agricultural engineers.

BRIAN RICHARDSON UK head of agriculture, Clydesdale Bank

Brian Richardson will be addressing the challenge of improving productivity in the farming sector. He says the AHDB and NFU have both recently presented data to the industry that shows a worrying trend in UK agriculture, with productivity seeming to have stalled, while competitors from mainland Europe and the U have improved. e ill ask why this is the case and give the likely future pressures post Brexit, plus what UK farming can do to address the issue.

TIM FRAY Patent assistant, Loven Patents

Tim Fray will give practical advice regarding protecting intellectual property (IP) using patents. Having had a career with major companies, protecting their IP, and training as a patent attorney, he is well placed to talk about how IP integrates itself into businesses.

He will explain using IP as a business tool, giving technological kudos to your company, enhancing the value of your business and as a way to reduce tax burden, as well as some of the challenges manufacturers face.

SIMON JORDAN Senior consultant in the applied science group within the industrial, consumer and energy division, Cambridge Consultants

imon ordan says gro ers are facing new challenges which cannot be solved by simply making machines bigger or faster.

He will show some new examples of high precision techniques which can treat plants individually and show how technology from other industries can allow businesses to scale up, reducing the cost and increasing reliability. Examples include smart targeting of weeds, an autonomous robot for orchards, and an AI powered fruit counter.

TOM JENKINS Deputy challenge director for transforming food production, Innovate UK

Tom Jenkins will be speaking about ideas to transform food production while reducing emissions, pollution, waste, and soil erosion. He works on the transforming food production programme, which integrates world-leading capabilities in digital technologies, engineering, artifi cial intelligence, biological and environmental sciences into precision approaches and data driven solutions.

SARAH CARR Outreach manager, Farm491

arah arr ill talk about the challeng es farmers face on a local and global scale and the opportunity technology has to solve them, as well as some hidden harms in developing tech for farmers.

FIONA GALBRAITH Founder, Ruralink

Fiona Galbraith is the founder of Ruralink, the only specialist career consultancy supporting members of the military community seeking a follow-on career in the land-based sector.