Our Week in Agri-Tech

Friday round up is from Agri-TechE Towers (too cold and windy to be outside today!). This week: - Introducing some of our latest new members: Livefarmer UK - farm management software to help manage crops and assets, and supporting your audit needs. GIS-Point ltd. - harnessing spatial data for analytics, monitoring and precision application. Pennine Analytical Laboratories Ltd. - measuring the composition of elements such as carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and oxygen, and levels of proteins and calories etc in a whole range of materials Number 8 bio - for cattle farmers wanting an increase in FCR of their animals and to reduce their GHG emissions - a novel molecule encapsulated in a slow-release dissolvable bolus. 🐞 🐝 🪶 🚰 🌳 FIVE BASIS Reg Ltd points up for grabs for delegates attending our "Productive Landscape: Nature-tech for Profit and Planet" event (April 28th). Hear from the Environment Agency Chief Scientist, as well as speakers from G's Group, The Crown Estate, LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), Cambridge Consultants, the NFU (National Farmers'​ Union), Brown&Co LLP, Lloyds Banking Group and more - plus a host of tech companies. Thank you so much to Fenland SOIL, ADAS and Rothamsted Enterprises for supporting the conference. 📣 The UK's first Precision Bred Organism marketing notice has been issued.....a new barley developed by Rothamsted Research using gene-editing techniques moves a step closer to commercial deployment. And who do you / we know who met the King this week to receive their well-deserved Gong?! Huge congratulations to Simon Pearson MBE - you are a great ambassador for UK hashtag#agritech. Mentioned or met this week: Marcus Harrison | Thomas Williams | Peter Eastmond | Freddie Theodoulou | Julius Joel | Diane Mitchell | David Webster | Charlie Curtis PSAg , CSRM | Isobel Ashbey | Casey Woodward | Geoff Horrell |George Caterer | Darren Evans | Ben Makowiecki |

Some tractor action and a cameo appearance by some roe deer in this week's Agri-TechE round-up.This week:💡 Being inspired by the University of Reading AgriFood Futures strategy - a multi-disciplinary systems approach to agri-food, from land management to consumer and health, via crop and livestock research, teaching and real-world farming.💻 Bringing Artificial Intelligence into #agritech - Marks & Clerk experts talk us through the legal implications of liabilities, regulatory evolution and the importance of being human when it comes to patent protection.🚜 Watching the "virtuous circle" of farmers and agronomists talking to innovators about their tools, tech and services via our Farmer First Innovation Group. This week's was on traceability, feat, YAGRO and Livefarmer UK.🎥 Fame on the BBC for Agri-TechE member Messium and one of our ambassadors - Northants farmer Louise Penn following our introductions!📈 Announcement of the new Agri-Scale programme - £13m for industrial research and experimental development to help #agritech companies get commercial. The pilot was run with MTC - Manufacturing Technology Centre and it's great to see government confidence resulting in a fully fledged programme.🫰 The AgFunder Global AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2025 has landed - what are the trends in investments into companies across the globe and what does this mean for #agritech businesses

Friday round up from Agri-TechE - in a week that has seen the launch of the UK’s Land Use Framework and our hosting of the big ARISE programme delegates from North and South America. This week:- The Farming Minister was at the University of Reading to talk about the report around land use for food production, nature recovery, housing, energy production, communities and amenities. Good to see a focus on domestic food production but the "More With Less" message is writ large......agriculture is going to have to be even more productive. - The 6 month ARISE programme culminated in a UK visit for the delegates at the Norwich Research Park, Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology and WMG, University of Warwick. A great showcase of different innovation ecosystems in the UK - we wish we had time to visit all the UK has to offer. - The Innovation Summit was hosted at Niab and featured more than 80 partnering meetings (yes, 80!) between the ARISE delegates and our community, as well as talks about cross-border funding for research, innovation and collaboration. Closing with a fantastic insight into Dyson Farming Research by Richard Meredith.....the longest post-talk queue we have ever seen of people wanting to talk to him afterwards! Big shout out to the ARISE delegation from some excellent global institutions, including Embrapa, the Yield Lab LATAM, the Yield Lab Institute, Washington University in St Louis, Taylor Geospatial, Donald Danforth Plant Science Centre, agcenter, Universidad Austral, Tecnologico de Monterrey, CREA, as well as Agritierra and Earthbase, and Newcastle University and Harper Adams University.

In this week’s round-up from Agri-TechE, I reveal what I am (according to Belbin) and what we've learnt about teamwork. Also: 📣The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announces dynamic alignment of UK rules with the EU – a single “rule book” on agreed areas of law. I talked with CropLife UK’s Feodora Rayner about the critical importance of good regulatory practice, science- and based policy-making and the hazard of chaos. 🤝 Meeting Steve McLean of the UK Agri-Tech Centre and hearing about their new strategy, helping agri-tech companies launch, thrive and deliver impact to the agri-food supply chain. 🫶 A meeting of minds with David Webster of LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming)……..let’s change the world together! 😊 Proud to be welcoming Robert Bradburne the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Environment Agency to our “Nature-tech for Profit and Planet” conference in April. There’s still time to book an exhibition slot and your delegate ticket and put your questions about flooding, soils health, and tech for ELM to him (and others). ✈️ Revving up to welcome our friends from the ARISE programme to the UK next week, still time to book partnering meetings with delegates from LATAM and St Louis, Missouri. Met or mentioned this week: Earthbase | AgriTIERRA | The Yield Lab Institute | The Yield Lab LATAM | Judith Batchelar OBE | Stella Peace | Minette Batters DL | Anne Ferguson-Smith | Matt Smith |

A farming-focussed round-up from Agri-TechE this week, coming from the gorgeous GORGATE LIMITED Farm, an exemplar of production plus nature recovery.In this week’s round-up:🙏 Reinforcing the important of farmer input into the innovation process through the #Geocrop project – using historical weather and crop data to identify potential fail points for the supply chain. Thank you to our farmer members who were part of the process.🫧 🪴 Our Soils and Water Demo Day will be hosted at Elveden Farms Ltd, helping farmers see relevant #agritech in real-world action.📣 Telling the story of agriculture, harnessing our community to show how to make an impact through media and PR. Big thanks to Lizzie McLaughlin of Seeded Marketing, Tom McHarg CMktr of Orter Marketing and Max MacGillivray of Beanstalk.Global. 👋 A very warm welcome to some of our latest new members:☑️ Certis Belchim – crop protection solutions, both chemical and biological☑️ Agri Frontier – helping you assess and develop your market in Africa☑️ Trade and Investment Queensland – the go-to organisation for exploring agriculture and horticulture in Australia's second largest state ☀️☑️ Polysolar Limited - your flexible friend in agrivoltaics for energy production (and potentially even yield enhancement) for polytunnels and glasshouses)Plus putting the (agri)-world to rights with Jon Williams of BASF Agricultural Solutions.

It feels like the UK Spring has sprung – and with it we’re putting out shoots for some new and exciting activities for the month ahead.In this week’s Agri-TechE round-up:👉 Come and partner with agri-tech innovators from north and south America as the final, UK-based leg of the "ARISE" project comes together at Niab. Plus hear from Dyson Farming Research, BBSRC and Cambridge Econometrics about farmer adoption, international research collaborations and the role of innovation in the global food system.🎓 We launch our micro-learning series – first up is legal and IP challenges linked to use of AI in agriculture with Marks & Clerk.📣 Announcements from the NFU (National Farmers'​ Union) conference this week – did you go? (And congrats to Tom Bradshaw on your re-election as President!).🥫 Talking climate-friendly packaging and cloud whitening using spray technology with our members Archipelago Technology Group LtdPlus member catch ups with ADAS (🍲), NFU Mutual (💭), Food Intelligence (🍰) and more.

This week's Agri-TechE round-up come from high above the Yarra river, hot (literally) from the AgriFutures evokeAG conference in Melbourne, Australia. 🫶 Aligning mindsets with some utter legends in global #agritech, in particular the awesome Brendan O'Connell; Peter Wren-Hilton; Meg Lovegrove and Rob Hulme. 💡 Being inspired by the keynote address by Andrew Bate, farmer and founder of SwarmFarm Robotics - check out my blog on our website with thoughts about agri-tech R & D.....(as well as E, A and S). And while we're on the alphabet soup, some reflections about TRLs - are they fit for purpose for agri-tech innovations? 🤝 Very much enjoyed seeing our Antipodean members, includingthe Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC), Agnition Ventures and also the Aussie arm of Dyneval. And remember Moa Technology from #REAP2024 - they were here with a stand as well. 👏 Well done to the UK companies on the Innovate UK Global Incubator Programme - Airponix Ltd, Polysolar Limited; O2 Agri Ltd; Cleobury PM; Rare Earth Global; and The Extraordinary Berry Company. You did the UK proud showcasing your innovations around virus free seed potatoes, flexible solar panelling for polytunnels, the benefits of hyper-oxygenation in livestock prodution, waste valorisation for fertiliser, the wonders of hemp and innovative glasshouse design for strawberry production. 🙏 A massive thanks and well done to the amazing team who delivered the conference - particular shout-outs to Harriet Mellish, David Lord, Alex Bundock; Harriet Coutts; as well as Emma McMahon and Millie Childs. I enjoyed the Farmers2Founders pitching session - fast-paced but high quality presentations, and great discussions with Gabrielle Munzer and Thomas Williams about the investment landscape and a new solution to mitigate GHG emissions from ruminants. You can read Belinda's blog about the trip on our website.

A presenting duo for this week's Agri-TechE round-up (but one of us had to do all the talking). This week: 🗓️ Lots of named "days" and weeks, including the UNESCO Day of Women and Girls in Science, also National Nestbox Week and - crucially - Mind Your Head Week, raising awareness and support for mental health in our industry and farm safety. #MindYourHead Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies). 🙌 Welcome to our latest new member cohort, including: 🕷️ BugBug - detection of insect pests through acoustic ID of their mode of attack on plants 🦠 Bactotech UK - using Bacillus bacteria for bio-based solutions for crop and soil improvement 🛰️ Messium - nitrogen analysis using satellite observation, for insights into the N status of crops. 🧭 Kicking-off of our Agri-Tech Meets... Series, bringing tech from other sectors into agriculture. We started with Navigation....watch this space for more. 💷 Round 6 of the ADOPT grant is open, part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Farming Innovation Programme (and yes, it is at least 2 farmers!). And finally, a pleasure to chair the 2026 #NorfolkFarmingConference on Tuesday and it's always interesting to meet as a member of Defra's Agricultural Productivity Group - that group has lots to do!

The Agri-TechE round up from our week in St Louis, Missouri on the second stage of the ARISE programme with AgriTIERRA, Earthbase, Embrapa and the The Yield Lab Institute.This week's vlog featuring:💭 Some takeaways from the week's discussions and those who inspired our thinking.❗ Discover my new favourite mantra - is this the key to developing effective #agritech innovations.....and explaining why ecosystems are so important?🌦️ Long-range weather forecasting for farmers......do you trust this world-famous tool to predict the next 6 weeks of weather?It's been such a privilege to visit Bayer; the World Trade Center St. Louis; the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; the Taylor Geospatial Institute; Washington University in St. Louis; 39 North - and a huge thank you to all who hosted us and facilitated our thinking.(And probably the best justification for lean manufacturing in our industry I have ever heard...... by Joe Steensma).