Agri-TechE Week: Embracing automation to secure competitiveness

7 November 2016

National Centre for Food Manufacturing (NCFM), University of Lincoln, Park Road, Holbeach, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE12 7PT

This event has now passed.

Responding to the drive for efficiency in labour and machinery is essential for all agri-food businesses – especially those in high labour input crops such as vegetables, salads and fruit.

This event was hosted by the Lincolnshire Branch of the Institute of Agricultural Management. It aimed to set out the challenges of securing competitiveness in the food chain from ‘field to fork’ as the National Living Wage (NLW) and Brexit impact on the supply and cost of labour in the food chain.

The NLW will create a driver for change in the whole food chain for the next 5+ years and lead to more automation, and Brexit is likely to make it harder to use migration to meet future labour demands in agriculture and the food sector. Together, these two factors are likely to lead to more automation in the agri sector.

Technology companies need to embrace the opportunity to design, install and maintain automation solutions for farmers and the food chain, and this event will explore the options to increase labour efficiency through automation as well as demonstrate existing, emerging and future robotic technologies in agriculture and the food chain.

Programme:

7.00pm Registration coffee and networking

7.20pm Welcome

Mark Suthern, IAgrM and Head of Agriculture, Barclay Bank

7.25pm The economic case for automation of the agri-food chain and responding to Brexit

Martin Collison, Collison and Associates Limited

7.35pm 3D Vision Assisted Robotic Harvesting of Broccoli

Prof Tom Duckett,University of Lincoln

7.45pm The use of robotics in food processing

National Centre for Food Manufacturing

8.00pm Q&A panel session

Chaired by Mark Suthern

8.20pm Tour

A tour around NCFM factory facilities, robot demonstrations and networking, including the chance to meet APRIL: Automated Processing Robotic Ingredient Loading, a pilot robotic system installed by OAL (Peterborough) at NCFM.

9.00pm End

This event has now passed.

For more information please contact:

Louise@knaptonfarming.co.uk