
Agri-TechE May 2020 Newsletter
Business carries on here at Agri-TechE as we send our second monthly update whilst in social distancing. “Response to challenge” is our theme for this month and we consider “Open Innovation in a time of Covid-19” in our blog.
- Mitigating climate risk will be discussed in a free webinar on 29th April
- Overcoming obstacles to growing the ‘wonder crop’ cannabis to be explored on 14th May
- Response to COVID-19 – How members with innovative services and robotics are rising to the challenge
- Reaching international investors – your chance to feature in a DIT Agri-Tech LookBook
- Agri-TechE Stakeholder Group – John Barrett of Sentry to chair and James Green of G’s join
- REAP Conference 10th November 2020 first sponsors announced
Top News and Upcoming Events
Members Respond to the challenges of COVID-19
Labour shortages and disrupted supply chains are two of the challenges facing agri-food currently. Simon Pearson of LIAT talks about the enthusiastic response he gained to a call to accelerate automation in the industry. Other member initiatives include rapid expansion of vertical farms to feed those in need, game-changing home-tests, free access to software, data and business support. Find out more in our story.
From Farmer to Pharma – a Teaser of Things to Come
Hemp has been described as a wonder crop for its fibres and medicinal properties – but UK farmers are not yet benefiting from its potential.
Our members Hanway Associates, who have launched the Crop17 initiative with Savills, will be reviewing the opportunities and challenges in this free webinar, (which replaces the more in-depth event that has been postponed). Book now.
Gain Investment Through An Agri-Tech Lookbook
We are proud to be working with the Department of International Trade (DIT) to create an Agri-Tech “Lookbook”, to feature the UK’s most progressive companies.
The Lookbook will showcase start-ups and scale-ups seeking investment. It will be circulated to international investors with a known interest in agri-tech. Apply here for your organisation to be considered.
De-Risking Agriculture through Weather-Tech
Mapping the world to give advanced warning of extreme events and plotting the jet stream to predict weather are just two of the presentations in this topical webinar.
Speaker Cervest, an Earth Science AI company, has just announced its collaboration with the Alan Turing Institute to enable global communities to benefit from its cutting-edge technology. Be the first to hear about it on 29th April.
John Barrett to chair Agri-TechE Stakeholder Group
The Stakeholder Group represents members from across the value-chain and their insights help us to keep in touch with the important issues, challenges and opportunities.
We’re delighted to announce that John Barrett, Director of Sentry Ltd, succeeds Richard Anscombe as Chair and to give a warm welcome to James Green, Group Director of Agriculture at G’s Fresh. Read the story here.
Other News and New & Returning Members
New Members: Antobot | Metos UK
Renewing Members: Agrimetrics | Breedr | British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO) | Greenlab | H2O-Ganics | Hockley Agro UK | Honingham Thorpe Farms | Howseman Agriculture | Hutchinsons | John Innes Centre | Ozo Innovations Ltd | Square Mile Farms | Weather Logistics | Weatherquest
Other Upcoming Agri-TechE Events
First REAP sponsors announced!
We are delighted to announce the first sponsors for the REAP Conference 2020 on 10th November. A big thank you to AHDB, EIT FAN, Rothamsted Enterprises, and Savills for their support. More info on REAP 2020 coming soon.
In other news
Funding announcements
New grant opportunities are featured on our Funding Page; more are being announced all the time, particularly in response to current COVID-19 challenges. Support (financial and advisory) is also available to enable business continuity in the current situation; please do contact us if you’d like any help finding out about, or accessing these resources.
Plenty of live roles in the Opportunity Zone
Similarly, members are advertising a number of roles and studentships in the Opportunity Zone, from data analyst to roles in sustainable agriculture. Keep an eye on our website or our social channels (Twitter and LinkedIn) to learn more.
Don’t miss out – sign up to our agri-tech newsletter
To keep informed about the latest developments in agri-tech sign up to our newsletter. Please share this with colleagues with an interest in agriinnovation.
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.