Agri-TechE July 2020 Newsletter
It’s that time when industry networking is usually at its peak, with on-farm demos, trade events and agricultural shows all featuring the latest new tech, varieties and research. Our blog this month calls for a sound evidence base to build confidence in these new innovations – inspired by the presentation from our recent GROW keynote speaker.
Technology has enabled some exciting new formats for remote delivery of our activities, so log on and join in!
Highlights this month:
– Missing the Royal Norfolk Show? Come and join us in the virtual Innovation Hub
– Innovation Insights for Circular Agriculture showcases how members are realising the commercial potential
– Precision fertiliser, virtual farm advice, survival capsules for tree seedlings, enhanced photosynthesis; which one won the GROW agri-tech business plan competition?
– CEA “Lite” offers a timely update on controlled environment agriculture and vertical farming
– Call to arms for the industry to take a multi-tier systems approach to agriculture at REAP 2020
– “Gravity” is a virtual innovation challenge offering access to unrivalled earth observation datasets
Top News and Upcoming Events
RNS Innovation Hub goes virtual
The marquee, the grass, the livestock, the ice-cream..…..we can’t exactly re-create the Royal Norfolk Show but in partnership with the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association we’re going online in this year’s Innovation Hub. Sponsored by BBRO, visitors to the Hub will learn about approaches to overcome the impact of loss of key ag-chem, hear the potential of gene-editing for crop resilience and find out how innovation in crop nutrition can enhance yield.
Listen in on the conversation, browse the stands and get your questions answered.
1st July 2020 – Online
Innovation Insights for Circular Agriculture
Minimising resource use and making use of by-products of agricultural production can offer useful opportunities for some businesses. If you’re wondering what that means for you, we’ve got the low-down. Join us for the launch of a short film – a members’ collaboration looking at how the circular economy is generating space for innovation in agriculture.
Available to watch from 11am, followed by a Twitter-chat with the stars of the show at 2pm. Sign up free for an email reminder.
8th July 2020 – Online
GROW-ing the agri-tech innovation pipeline
SilviBio’s innovative protective seed coating designed to boost the establishment of tree seedlings, underpinned by their robust business plan, led them to be crowned winner of our 4th GROW business plan competition. Other finalists included Glaia’s sugar dot technology to boost photosynthetic efficiency; Farmz2U is digitising Nigerian farming to increase food production and incomes; and AgriOptimizer offers the potential for prescription fertiliser.
CEA Lite Event
Join us for a day of diverse digital content to keep the conversation going. “CEA-Lite” will consider skills and training needs, disruption to business models, investment appetites and more. To whet your appetite, Johnno Ransom discusses developments at Square Mile Farms.
10th September 2020 – online
Were you at Cereals 2020?
Our Members@Cereals had a strong presence, as ever, and it was great to “visit” their stands to learn about their latest products, tools and services. We even had a drink in the “beer tent!”
Check out our summary and Twitter roundup to see who was there and what was on offer from our members.
Gravity Challenge to help reach net zero
The Gravity Challenge is bringing together Challengers and Innovators to create solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges. It is supported by Amazon Web Services and Deloitte.
This challenge will hopefully inspire experts from different disciplines to get creative about the way space-tech and agriculture can work together to reduce the global greenhouse gas emission from the industry.
Other News and New & Returning Members
New Members: Lexington Communications | Mixology Communications
Renewing Members: Norfolk Rivers Trust | Consus Fresh Solutions | Ben Burgess | Soil Moisture Sense | Germains Seed Technology | The Morley Agricultural Foundation | Savills | Fram Farmers | NFU Mutual
Other Upcoming Agri-TechE Events
Call for REAP exhibitors
10th November 2020
REAP 2020 will consider every level of the agricultural system, from microcosm to landscape and beyond. To integrate and manage across these scales requires tools and techniques for monitoring, sensing, measuring, visualisation and decision support.
If you’ve got the tools for the task, and you need collaborators, clients and customers, REAP 2020 is the place to find them! Find out more here.
In other news
Welcoming James Phillips to our Stakeholder Group
We are delighted to welcome James Phillips as the latest new addition to the Agri-TechE Stakeholder Group. “It’s an exciting time at the moment with lots of strategic development and groups like Agri-TechE are invaluable to get a sense of the needs and opportunities of the sector” commented James, about his appointment. James succeeds Dr Andy Cureton on the Stakeholder Group who is moving to a new role within UK Research and Innovation.
New stories from our member organisations
The Member News section of our site is full of new content for you to enjoy, including a campaign for regulation reform of CBD production in the UK, robotic technology for autonomous slug monitoring and precision treatments, funding sucess for a number of our members, and a new test that could guarantee the perfect avocado.
Are you working on Agri-Tech innovation and would like to implement some of your ideas in Africa?
You could get funding thanks to the Agri-Tech Catalyst Competition, Round 10, opening on 20 July. The funding available through the competition is for Agri-Tech projects on food chain innovations in Africa. These projects need to be delivered by a UK and an African organisation working together. Find out more.
UK-Australia: Future of Agriculture Space Applications Workshop
Looking to learn more about opportunities in Australia? This opportunity is for Australian – UK business engagement and awareness for cross-sector technologies in Agri-Tech and the Space sector. Through facilitated discussions with experts in the field, companies will gain knowledge of cross-sector opportunities (collaborative and commercial) in the UK and Australia. Find out more.
BASIS points for members and newsletter readers
Many of our events attract BASIS points. If you are BASIS registered, you can also collect 2 points (up to a maximum of 8/yr) for receiving our newsletter and all staff in our member organisations can claim 2 points/yr for membership.
To claim your BASIS points for the newsletter, use reference CP/91546/1920/g on the BASIS website.
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