
Agri-TechE’s July Newsletter
Agri-TechE’s Show Season is over! What an incredible June we had meeting current members and new faces, talking all things agri-tech, and hearing insights and updates from across the network – more on that below.
Also this month, London has also been named as one of the top five Agritech & New Food ecosystems in the world, which is incredible recognition of all the work happening here in the UK to support food systems.
- Our Monthly Musing distills down the government’s food strategy
- Defra awards first round of funding for Farming Innovation Programme
- Exclusive networking for Agri-TechE members in September
- An opportunity on the International Space Station
ICYMI: Catch up with Show news
Cereals, Groundswell, and the Royal Norfolk Show
If you couldn’t make it to the agricultural shows this month, we’ve got you covered! You can catch our written roundup of Groundswell and the Innovation Hub at the Royal Norfolk Show – or check out our YouTube playlist of one minute or less interviews with members and talk summaries at all three.
We are also really pleased to announce that Harry Henderson won the three volumes of ‘Advances in Conservation Agriculture’ from Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing after entering the competition at Groundswell – congratulations!
Top News
Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme awards funding to members
Last year the UKRI Farming Innovation Programme funding was launched and the first series of winners were announced in June. A number of members were among them, including YAGRO, Muddy Machines, LettUs Grow, AgSenze and Earth Rover – read more about their projects here. Round 2 of many of the calls are now open or will be later this year so keep an eye out on Funding Latest for info on those.
Agri-TechE Member Exclusive Get-Together
As we break up for summer harvests and holidays we’re thinking it’s time to get our members back together. Join us on 13th September for some hog roast and casual member-to-member networking kindly hosted by G’s Fresh, and for the competitive ones among you, join the Lettuce Picking Challenge for a chance to win the title of fastest picker!
National Food Strategy published
Our industry has been anticipating the release of the new food strategy, following Henry Dimbleby’s plan released last year. Almost a year later, the Strategy has landed – Belinda summarises for you in her latest musing, along with a quick video summary of Henry Dimbleby’s thoughts at Groundswell. There are certainly some opportunities for agri-tech, including enabling investment into technology and development of a ‘What Works’ centre.
Upcoming events
Agriculture 101 - an introduction to the sector
15th September Cambridge; 10am – 4pm
A great event for anyone new to or wanting to find out more about the agri-tech sector, a chance to understand more about agriculture. Walk a mile in a farmer’s shoes, hear about funding and policy as well as enabling companies in the sector.
REAP Conference 2022 - exhibition slots available
8th November, South Cambridge; 9:30am – 6:30pm
This year we will be exploring the meeting between the real and digital worlds and the opportunities created on-farm. Elizabeth Fastiggi, Worldwide Lead of Agriculture Business at Amazon Web Services, is our keynote speaker, and there are opportunities to exhibit in our technical exhibition at the event.
Meet Our Members!
New and Renewing Members
New Member Pages: BBSRC | Citicourt & Co
Renewing Members: Albotherm | AgriSound | Ben Burgess | Greens of Soham | Glaia | HOPS AgTech | Vitabeam
Meet our members
Each month we will be showcasing 6 of our members. Click on their logo to find out more about them through their member pages.
Other News and Events
Agri-Tech on the ISS – will your tech go stellar?
Space Cooperative Europe is looking for companies and research institutions which want to run agri-food experiments on the International Space Station (ISS). They are funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and are looking to connect with researchers and technologist that think the microgravity environment of the ISS could be the ideal test ground for their innovation. Get in touch with us for more.
Sustainable Farming Incentive Scheme now open for applications
English farmers are now able to apply to take part in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) – the first element of the government’s new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. This marks a key milestone as we transition away from Basic Farm Payments for farmers, and provides potential opportunities for supporting technologies. Read the story.
Discount for Agri-TechE members at the World Agri-Tech Investment Summit
If you are thinking of attending the WATIS in London in September, we have a unique discount code for our members – get in touch to access the code and see you there!
Where you’ll find us this month
Fruit Focus, 13th July 2022
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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.
Claim BASIS points for reading: ref CP/119831/2223/g on the BASIS website.