How can technology enable delivery of food, nature recovery, and climate resilience - all at once? The Head of the Environment Agency is asked: what's the national plan for dealing with land use pressures, plus you’ll hear from technologists and land managers working on nature-based and tech-enabled solutions for water, soils and climate adaptation.

Diversity of thought in agri-tech innovation

Member News

Innovate UK - UKRI

The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.

9 February 2023

Highlighting the work of female innovators working on the transforming food production challenge of feeding a growing world population in a changing climate.

In the last couple of years, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as recent climate, food and energy crisis have caused current global challenges to be exacerbated. As a result of this, we have experienced drastic changes within our economic sectors and their supply chains. The agricultural sector has been undergoing change to address these emerging issues. However, these growing problems also open up new opportunities for innovation in the sector.

Innovation and more innovation

Innovation in agri-tech is important to help increase the resilience of the sector and address the challenges we’re facing. This includes finding new and sustainable solutions to:

produce food
improve animal welfare
reduce emissions and pollution
deal with rising energy costs

All this, while meeting the challenge of feeding a growing world population in a changing climate. New ideas, technologies, and the adoption of these solutions, are going to be key for both the immediate and near future. Innovation in the sector requires diversity of people as well as diversity of thought to realise these ambitions.

Dispelling the stereotype

In the past, the sector has been widely considered to be an older male-dominated industry. When you look at this from an outside perspective, onlookers might feel like one has to conform to the stereotype to fit into agriculture, but this really isn’t true and there is already great talent, from a range of backgrounds, within agri-tech right now.

Trail-blazing women in agri-tech

Last summer we released a series of videos featuring some of the founders and pioneers we have worked with as part of the transforming food production (TFP) challenge. Among them were several women working on tackling sustainability, productivity, and resilience of the UK food sector through their innovations and businesses.

View the ’meet the pioneers’ playlist on YouTube.

There are lots of exciting technologies and changes happening within this sector. Women in agri-tech have a large role to play in challenging the gender stereotype of what a typical person working in this sector looks like.

Within the TFP team, we wanted to shine a light on the diversity that exists across our current project portfolio. So after speaking to our female innovators to understand their journeys into the sector, we put together a video of our 4 leading innovators. Here they share their journey and provide valuable advice to anyone interested in a career within the sector.

The TFP team, is also looking at what more we can do to help support greater diversity within the agri-tech sector. We have seen that some of the best solutions to the challenges we’re facing initiate via creative thinking from individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures.

Embracing diversity within the innovation process will be critical to develop solutions that tackle the biggest and most pressing challenges we will face in the coming decades, such as food security and climate change.

The TFP challenge is delivered by Innovate UK.

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Innovate UK - UKRI

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Analytics can unlock insights – such as when to buy a second seed drill!

Meet the Network

Agri-TechE

“Sometimes the farmer has a gut feeling about something but being able to analyse the data can support or disprove that gut feeling,” explains Emma Kelcher, Senior Customer Success Manager at data analytics company YAGRO. “For one of our customers, just having the financials in front of him made it much easier to justify investment in a second seed drill.” This is just one of the practical examples that Emma will be discussing at the Agri-TechE data event ‘Planning a resilient on-farm data strategy’ on Wednesday 15th March 2023.

Emma joined YAGRO after many years working on-farm as a technical manager for a Suffolk estate and can see clearly how she would have benefited from improved data analytics.

“I have had over 11 years’ experience collecting on-farm data and just one example that was always an obstacle to our work was the inconsistency in field names and cropping types. For example: I might call Winter Wheat ‘WW’ in my farm management software, I might also refer to my varieties as Extase and not KWS Extase, but other users might use different terms for the same thing.

“When you are using several software systems the problem gets more challenging. Yield data was recorded in Weighbridge and Excel files, and with many users there would be errors in field name spelling.”

Improving data collation and consistency

“What YAGRO does is collate, verify, and structure data into a common infrastructure. It recognises that each farm records its data in a way that is unique to them but standardises everything, so that for example field names are consistent year on year, multiply that up to every variable and you get the idea of how much data we process, clean, validate and structure. This makes life easier and enables you to make comparisons.

“I have always had a passion for data and ensuring farmers do the best they can, and the key to YAGRO is unlocking the true value of data to the customers in an efficient and user-friendly way.”

The focus of Emma’s team is ensuring that users are getting the most out of the platform and tools, including training users and extending the scope of the ‘tool kit’.

“My favourite part of the job is when a farmer asks for something our systems doesn’t yet do and either figuring out how it can be done with our tools or working closely with our software engineers to develop new features and elements. It’s really rewarding to see ideas implemented and used by farms.”

Analysing yield data and profit margins

Yagro The YAGRO platform treats each field as an individual profit centre and looks to see how every aspect of the farm is contributing to the overall health of the business.

“We have farms who are sending in over six plus years’ worth of field and harvest data which we can then use to highlight trends, like individual field performances – which are improving, which are declining in output – then being able to explore what is driving that change.

“Farms don’t need to organise their data themselves. We do the hard work for them. We structure that into a standardised format to allow it to be anonymised and comparable with others.

“Once the data is cleaned, collated, and validated we present back to the farm that information in a very visual format showing their performance by any metric, with a focus on measuring by cost per tonne produced. We are also able to show them their performance against an anonymised data set, for example where they sit on verified market range on the cost of production for winter wheat.”

Justifying investments

Emma explains that the analysis provides actionable insights: “The other day we had a group of six farms sitting around a table discussing optimal drilling rates. We were exploring their optimum drilling rate and date for each farm. They all had data in our system and had given mutual permission to share their performance at a ‘nitty-gritty’ level – something we call a virtual group.

“One farm had a far longer drilling window than the rest and the resulting gross margin and yield was more volatile. Seeing the financial impact and risk that this was having over a few years made investing in a second drill a no-brainer for them. The farm rented – then bought – a second-hand Varderstad, which cut the drilling window in half. He had suspected that this might have been the case, but by having the financials in front of him and reviewing the wider group performance he was able to make a more informed decision.

Comparing agronomy strategies

“For another farmer we compared the difference in the cost of agronomic advice – where one was based on a walk rate and the other bundled into the input costs. There was a difference on the chemical cost which was as suspected, but the comparison showed a rate difference of 16% between the two blocks, which highlighted what that farm was paying to have a low-risk approach to their disease and weed control. Having the financial analysis allows you to make a more informed decision and actually put a value on their attitude to risk.

Improving data input

“The important part is collecting quality data in the first place. The more data that is collected, the more insight can be gained. Once farms have joined the YAGRO platform you do tend to see the following year the improvements they have made to their data collection on-farm, in some cases even unlocking some technologies such as telematics on their combines being used more, allowing technology to do the hard work for them.

“When I joined YAGRO it was just a small team and since then I have seen it triple in size and the customer base grow which is exciting – it shows the value data has on farm.”

Emma Kelcher of YAGRO and Alastair Grizzell, Head of Sales at Map of Ag, will be among the speakers at the Agri-TechE event: ‘Planning a resilient on-farm data strategy’ on 15th March 2023 at Rothamsted Research from 12.30 – 17.00.

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“Sharing data with trusted partners can provide valuable insights for both farmers and the wider industry, but the need for a secure, independent and trusted system to connect and share data is key,” says Alastair Grizzell, Head of Sales at Map of Ag. He is speaking at the forthcoming meeting ‘Planning a resilient on-farm data strategy’ on 15th March 2023.

Map of Ag is a leading provider of data services connecting farms and the agrifood industry, using enhanced data integration to evidence baseline activities and make positive steps towards sustainable production systems, supporting environmental performance and profitability.

Alastair continues: “We are seeing an increase in collaborative working. Farmers want to be able to bring their data together in one place and to gain actionable insights from combining information and reviewing it at detail. For this to happen they need to be able to share data with the confidence that they remain in control.”

Meeting sustainability ambitions in the value-chain

Map of Ag’s data platform, Pure Farming, allows farmers and growers to coordinate and manage their data, so they can share it with complete confidence.

Alastair continues: “By using our intuitive interface, farmers and growers can accept or deny requests for data, connect their data sources, and review and agree to the data-sharing terms and conditions – all in the knowledge the data is secure, encrypted and approved only for the agreed use.”

Map of Ag is working with agrifood producers to engage their farmers, and work together to meet sustainability objectives. Alastair explains: “About four years ago, Weetabix published its sustainability strategy; this is made up of four pillars, with one pillar focusing on sustainable ingredients. We have been working with the Weetabix Growers Group to meet the target set by the company to be carbon net zero by 2050.”

Measuring Nitrogen use efficiency

Map of Ag was engaged to gather robust data in relation to Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in wheat production. Following a successful pilot with three growers, Map of Ag then worked with an additional 14 growers – who produce 40% of Weetabix’s protocol wheat – to measure their carbon footprints and NUE.

“After having seen the outcomes from this project, a number of farmers from the Growers Group are going to continue to work with us on measuring emissions and carbon sequestration so they can get a whole-farm picture,” says Alastair. “This shows how data is the key to driving actionable insights for farmers.”

Digitising agriculture

Outside of his work at Map of Ag, Alastair is also a college governor at Hartpury College, and supports their drive on connecting the wider industry with farmers from ‘gate to plate’ as part of broader Agri-TechE Strategy.

“The Hartpury Digital Farm is starting to show how different parts of the industry can engage with farmers and students, focusing on tackling some of the key challenges, such as Net Zero. It’s this coordinated approach which will be key to driving the overall sector forward.”

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Tiptree partners with Antobot to deliver affordable robotics for sustainable fruit production!

Member News

Antobot Ltd.

The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.

We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Wilkin & Sons Ltd, you might know them as Tiptree, the historic jam and conserve producer based just next door to us in Essex!

Wilkin & Sons Ltd started growing fruit in the 1700s with their jam and conserve business dating back to 1885. Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength, acquiring several well-respected brands, opening tea rooms in Essex and beyond, all whilst maintaining their 850 acres of top grade fruit. Receiving Royal recognition with a visit from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to mark the anniversary of 125 years of their jam-making, Tiptree is the best-known jam business in the UK and one of the most iconic producers worldwide.

Now sharing ownership with their employees, the team at Tiptree are striving to keep their products high quality and increasingly sustainable. They are dedicated to innovation such as through irrigation systems with reservoirs built on site and installation of the first New Growing Systems in the UK in 2016 which involve movable suspended platforms for strawberries.

Our team visited their site this Wednesday to discuss our collaboration for 2023. After enjoying some warm freshly made scones with their iconic strawberry jam, we learnt all about Tiptree’s history and enjoyed a tour of their facilities including their innovative growing and irrigation systems.

“We’re excited about getting the Antobot team working on site here at Tiptree with their robots. We look forward to the innovations which this collaboration will bring.” – Andrey Ivanov, Farm Manager Tiptree

“We are looking forward to working closely with the team at Tiptree as an iconic British brand and brilliant innovator in horticulture. We can’t wait to see how this partnership can strengthen robotics and automation for the fruit sector.” – Howard Wu, CEO & Founder Antobot

Thank you to Andrey, Veso and Rado for the warm welcome and we are looking forward to a jam-packed year of activities on farm!

You can read more about Tiptree, its history (from 1757!), its ethos (sustainability and innovation!) and much more here on their website

Group of people standing in front of a sign for Tiptree

Group of people walking outside in poly tunnels

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Antobot Ltd.

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What your careers teacher didn’t tell you about agriculture

Agri-TechE Blog

Agri-TechE

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” – so said Confucius, philosopher, teacher and politician. A quote based, presumably, on the expectation of staying in the same role for decades, which is increasingly unlikely these days.

Attracting great people

At a recent discussion dinner in Norwich hosted by the Royal Society, the topic of lifelong career progression and attracting great people into the industry inevitably came up. After the all-too-predictable sharing of war stories around recruitment difficulties, an interesting commonality emerged.

Every business leader round the table shared their willingness to help inspire and engage early career individuals – and bemoaned the lack of opportunities for them to do so.

In fairness, we all know the time pressures that schools, Further Education Colleges and Universities are under,and that it takes additional energy and resource to set up career mentoring and extra curricula opportunities.

But repeated offers by businesses to work with schools, Colleges and even Universities were often not taken up.

Surely a trick is being missed here somewhere?

There are a number of great organisations which exist in the UK to help businesses engage with the education system, but they are often either charities or not-for-profit. Yet they provide opportunities for those starting their career to encounter potential role models, or even eliminate potential career options as a result learning a little more about the reality.

One person round the table at that dinner actually reflected that after experiencing lack-lustre careers support at school, their most defining opportunity came from meeting someone in business that they aspired to be.

So people starting out in their career need to meet engaging people who are relatable, doing jobs that seem achievable as a career goal.

Portfolio careers

And its not just those early in their career. Conventional wisdom has it that career decisions are made very early in life, hence the drive to engage schools – even at primary level.

But with the increased flexibility of modern careers – sorry, Confucius – there is need to engage, and keep engaging throughout the life course as people move between jobs and even sectors.

The pandemic was a driver of worker flexibility, with massive recruitment in some industries, and a dramatic decline in others. Adaptability is the order of the day now, as the world moves forward and work-places- and their staff – become more flexible and agile.

Diversity brings new perspectives

The world of agri-food is a great repository of a broad church of skills, from science PhDs to experienced practitioners on-farm, data scientists, supply chain and logistics and expert advisors. And more.

Although we don’t do “skills and schools” activities at Agri-TechE , in our modest way, our Early Careers Innovators’ Forum (ECIF) helps to broaden the network and perspectives of those starting their career in the industry (and you don’t have to be ‘young’ to join us!).

ECIF careers afternoon

Coming up, we have a Careers Afternoon at the Norfolk Showground, where you will meet people from across the network looking at agricultural engineering, investment, agronomy, research and others.

We also host site visits to our members and others – join us to visit Germains Seed Technologies to learn more about pelleting, priming and polymers – with a sprinkling of sugar!

And who knows, you may never work a day in your life again…

Agri-TechE ’s Early Career Innovators’ Forum is kindly sponsored by the Morley Agricultural Foundation. To receive the ECIF newsletter, you can sign up here.

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Wilder, wetter, better for wildlife – second round of Landscape Recovery

Agri-TechE Article

Agri-TechE

‘Wilder, Wetter, Better for Wildlife’ is one of the projects chosen in the first round of the new Landscape Recovery scheme, which is part of ELMs. Applications for the second round will open in spring.

Round 1 – successful projects announced

The ‘Wilder, Wetter, Better for Wildlife’ proposal was submitted by Norfolk County Council in partnership with Norfolk Rivers Trust and the Holkham Estate and it was announced in September 2022 that it had been successful.

The project aims to convert over 1400 hectares of arable farmland on the Holkham Estate into new habitat managed for nature. The areas have been carefully chosen to fill in existing gaps in the habitat mosaic in the area. On completion, it means a total of 13,470 hectares of land will be managed for wildlife.

The project brings together landowners along four chalk rivers (Hun, Stiffkey, Burn, Glaven) and the North Norfolk Coastal strip between Hunstanton and Weybourne (land between the sea and the A149). This is an area of high ecological significance and a recent survey revealed nearly 11,000 different species of wildlife, including the Natterjack Toad and birds including the Spoonbill and fish such as Grayling.

Round 2 – Landscape Recovery

The second round aims to support 25 projects and will focus on projects of at least 500 hectares, targeting net zero, protected sites and habitat creation. More information is available on the Defra Farming Blog.

Water Innovation for Agriculture

Managing water in the environment is a key element of many of the Landscape Recovery projects and this subject is to be discussed at the Agri-TechE event ‘Water Innovation for Agriculture‘ on 8^th February at Cranfield University. Speakers include: Kelly Hewson-Fisher (NFU), Daniel Johns (CEO at Water Resources East), Prof Jerry Knox and Dr Rob Simmons (both of Cranfield University) and innovators Tailwater Systems, Wroot Water and Aquagrain.

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Faba beans ‘in’ toast could grow its market value

Research Digest

Agri-TechE

Faba beans provide an excellent alternative to imported soya and thrive under UK growing conditions but the majority of the beans produced go to animal feed. Now a £2m project, ‘Raise the Pulse’, is aiming to increase market awareness of its potential and encourage farmers to switch some wheat producing land to faba bean for human consumption.

Raising the pulse diagram — [click to enlarge]

The potential role of under-used crops to diversify the arable rotation is to be discussed at the event ‘Novel Crops and Fresh Thinking’ hosted by Agri-TechE on 23rd February 2023.

Faba beans are particularly high in easily digested protein, fibre, and iron, nutrients that can be low in UK diets. The team led by University of Reading are experimenting to see if Faba could replace soya in bread.

Professor Julie Lovegrove is leading the ‘Raising the Pulse’ research programme. She said: “We had to think laterally: What do most people eat and how can we improve their nutrition without them having to change their diets? The obvious answer is bread!

“96% of people in the UK eat bread, and 90% of that is white bread, which in most cases contains soya. We’ve already performed some experiments and found that faba bean flour can directly replace imported soya flour and some of the wheat flour, which is low in nutrients. We can not only grow the faba beans here, but also produce and test the faba bean-rich bread, with improved nutritional quality.”

The University will be doing taste testing with students as Matt Tebbit, who leads the University’s ‘Menus for Change’ research programme, explains: “Students will be asked to rate products made or enriched with faba bean, such as bread, flat bread, and hummus. They will be asked questions about how full they felt, for how long and their liking of the foods. It is hoped that faba bean will improve satiety, as well as providing enhanced nutritional benefits in products that are enjoyable to eat.”

‘Raising the Pulse’, which includes PGRO and Agrimetrics, also seeks to improve how the crop is grown, harvested and milled. Researchers will be choosing or breeding varieties that are healthful as well as high yielding, working with the soil to improve yield via nitrogen fixing bacteria, mitigating environmental impacts of farming faba beans, planning for the changing climate, and more.

Benefits of faba beans

The faba bean represents a safe and sustainable UK pulse with great potential to improve overall diet quality and consumer health.

highest yield potential and nitrogen-fixation rates
valuable floral resources for a diversity of wild pollinating insects
excellent break crop – can be sown in a diversity of farm systems as a winter or spring crop and can be harvested for a long period following maturation
high-protein content (28%–29%), is micronutrient-dense and higher intakes have been reported to lower blood cholesterol.
when added to pasta it was found to improve post meal satiety, glycaemia and blood pressure ( In consideration of all the above features, we consider that the faba bean represents a safe and sustainable UK pulse with great potential to improve overall diet quality and consumer health.

‘Raising the Pulse’ is a multidisciplinary programme of research, funded by the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, as part of their ‘Transforming UK Food Systems’ initiative.

The Agri-TechE event “Novel Crops and Fresh Thinking ” is to be held from 10am – 4pm at Wivenhoe House Hotel, Wivenhoe Park, Park Road, Essex, CO4 3FA on 23rd February 2023. It will include presentations by Dr Lydia Smith (Niab), Martin Lines (Nature Friendly Farming Network) and some of the 10 Seeding Award winners, together with a workshop for those interested in the business opportunities across the value chain that will arise from these new crops.

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Grants4Ag – Bayer funding and testing initiatives

Member News

Bayer

The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.

Bayer have two cyclical schemes open to anyone to apply for. First introduced in 2015, the initiative has since evolved to offer researchers financial and scientific support to develop ideas for novel solutions across all research and development areas in the Division of Crop Science. Current deadline for submissions is 31st March 2023, but subsequent rounds on different themes will likely be open for applications.

“Our previous Grants4 programs succeeded in attracting top proposals in targeted niches – particularly biotech traits and biologicals,” said Phil Taylor, Open Innovation Business Partner for the Crop Science division. “The new Grants4Ag model expands the reach to a greater number of potential applicants, and therefore more diverse innovations.”

As with previous Grants4 programs, there are no formal reporting requirements and applicants retain ownership of any intellectual property developed. Taylor says the company views these grants as an initial investment with the potential to become larger-scale, longer-term collaborations with Bayer.

Topics can include Plant Breeding, Crop Protection, Biotechnology, Digital Farming and Data Science although there are other opportunities on occasion.

About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2019, the Group employed around 104,000 people and had sales of 43.5 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.9 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.3 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com

For more information and to apply, please visit the company pages.

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App to digitalise potato crop performance

Member News

Crop4Sight

The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.

Updated version helps growers.

CROP4SIGHT has announced the launch of an updated version of their web and mobile app, designed to make it easier for potato growers and agronomists to access, and view, potato crop performance on the go.

The latest version of the app makes it easier to use all data that is collected throughout the growing season, while out and about – making it easier to make agronomic and commercial decisions.

Additionally, there is now a module for growers to compare and benchmark their crop performance against anonymised data describing performance of other crops planted at similar times.

Senior Agronomist Fiona Law-Eadie said: “Realistically growers and agronomists don’t spend that much time in front of a computer, especially not when the season gets busier. The latest version of the mobile app gives you easy access to the crop insights you need, to make management decisions on the go.”

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Having a tool to monitor crop performance throughout the season, and therefore confidently forecast yield and performance, is crucial for mitigating risk for the farmer.

“For example, if emergence is a week earlier than expected but you have a set lifting date, this could mean the crop has a 7 to 10 days extra growing period and will likely require changes to crop management plans (e.g. earlier burndown) to maintain the optimum commercial yield of the crop,” Fiona said. “This can be problematic for growers working to contract specifications.”

Mrs Law-Eadie also explains that, currently, there are no other platforms which allows growers and agronomists to compare potato crops, despite it being a crucial element for forecasting marketable crop yields.

“Benchmarking helps growers determine how ahead of the game they are in the growing season, compared to other potato farmers across the country – helping to assess the options available depending on predicted yield and lifting time.”

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YEN shows new world record cereal yields are sustainable, profitable and inspiring

Member News

ADAS

The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.

It’s news across the world – the biggest wheat crop ever grown, yielding 18 tonnes of grain per hectare^[1]! This is fantastic, and laudable in all respects, but it’s no accident. Tim Lamyman has grown high-yielding crops for many years, and throughout, he has been a member of the Yield Enhancement Network – or YEN – which celebrated its 10th birthday last week. The YEN provides Tim – and many other farmers in the UK, Europe, and now in North America – with detailed intelligence about each of their crops, including crop structure and nutrition, so Tim and all YEN members can learn how to do better from year to year.

Figure: Tim Lamyman’s YEN yields (blue diamonds) have set the standard in seven of the 10 years since the YEN started.

In 2022 Tim achieved not only the Guinness World Record for wheat but also the Guinness World Record for barley at 16.2 tonnes per hectare^[2], and his oilseed rape crop would also have broken records if an authority existed – 9.0 t/ha, after accounting for its oil content.

The YEN has come to understand that Tim’s achievements over the past decade arise from a combination of his soils, his farm’s climate, and most importantly, the intensity of his thinking and management. This doesn’t mean huge expense on seeds, fertilisers and sprays; it means intensive appreciation of and attention to his crops’ needs, and frequent treatments so that his crops experience a minimum of setbacks. Tim has described how he grew each of his crops below.

Tim’s crops belie the common suspicion that large yields require large inputs. Tim knows his main inputs are light energy and water which come free if his crops can capture them. Whilst YEN doesn’t study economics, Tim’s reported inputs in the YEN’s database indicate that his world record crop must have achieved a 60% greater financial margin than the average YEN crop (which yields 11 t/ha), and double the margin of the average UK wheat crop (which yields 8 t/ha). Furthermore, the Nitrogen Use Efficiency of his wheat crop (at 57 kg grain produced per kg N applied) was better by 8% than the average YEN wheat crop and 35% better than the average UK wheat crop.

To sum up, Tim’s dedication, and his engagement with the YEN, have enabled all YEN members and sponsors to truly appreciate this world-beating achievement. It is not just a biological marvel, but also an exemplar for successful high-performance farming worldwide. Such high-performance crops produce more food from the same amount of land (dubbed ‘land-sparing’), they make more profit, and they use scarce or polluting resources more efficiently. It remains to be seen, but all the evidence indicates that they also fix more carbon into the soil and leave that soil better able to absorb over-winter rainfall and so reduce flooding.

YEN data show that yields of 14 t/ha are possible almost anywhere in NW Europe, and its mission through the next ten years will be to help as many farms as wish it, to achieve as close to their potential yields as Tim does.

^[1] = 267 bushels per acre

^[2] = 241 bushels per acre

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This story has been submitted by an Agri-TechE member.

ADAS

Member News

Agricultural policy: where have we got to in England?

Member News

Savills Limited

The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.

The agricultural transition period in England means a seismic shift in agri-environmental policy, away from the legacy of the EU Common Agricultural Policy and towards a brave new English future focused on Environmental Land Management (ELM). So, one year into this seven-year transition period, where have we got to?

MORE MONEY FOR COUNTRYSIDE STEWARDSHIP

At this year’s Oxford Farming Conference (OFC), Secretary of State George Eustice announced that Defra is increasing current and future payment rates for Countryside Stewardship (CS). On average, rates will be increased by 30 per cent. In reality, only some CS options will increase, some will remain the same and some may drop in 2023.

Existing agreement holders will be paid based on the new rates for options where the rate has increased. There is a clear drive from Defra to make CS as attractive as possible in order to encourage more land managers to put in applications. CS is intended to be the ‘bridge’ from the old to the new schemes.

SUSTAINABLE FARMING INCENTIVE: SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE?

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is the part of ELM that Defra has shared the most specific information on, it will pay for actions that relate to farming activities and create environmental benefit.

The types of action the SFI will fund include soil management plans, growing green cover crops over the winter, and establishing herbal leys. Currently, farmers can receive between £22 per hectare per year and £58 per hectare per year, depending on the level of SFI standard they choose.

The scheme will be open to all who are currently eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). The first application window opens this year and payments will be made before the end of 2022.

LOCAL NATURE RECOVERY: A CONTINUATION OF COUNTRYSIDE STEWARDSHIP

Local Nature Recovery (LNR) is the second element of ELM, and it is focused on paying for locally targeted actions to ‘make space for nature’ within the farmed landscape and the wider countryside.

LNR will be the ‘improved and more ambitious successor’ to the CS scheme. It will pay for things like habitat creation, species protection and woodland creation. Defra wants it to reward collaboration on nature recovery projects, but we don’t know how it intends to do that yet. The scheme will be available to all rural land managers by the end of 2024. Farmers are supposed to be able to sign up to both LNR and SFI, so long as it isn’t double funding the same activity.

LANDSCAPE RECOVERY: LARGE-SCALE AMBITIONS

This is the most environmentally ambitious part of ELM and is intended to deliver long-term, large-scale ecosystem recovery projects. The scheme will be open to applications from sites of 500–5,000 hectares. Applications can be made by individual land managers as well as collaborative groups. Each project will have bespoke payment rates that are negotiated during project development.

Defra wants to pilot up to 15 Land Recovery projects between 2022 and 2024 which it hopes will deliver over 20,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat.

HOW IS DEFRA DOING?

At the OFC, George Eustice reminded the audience that the agricultural transition is an ‘evolution not a revolution’ and that he hoped he had ‘been able to articulate a clear path that we have towards our final destination’.

However, at the same time, a House of Commons committee report heavily criticised the ELM proposals for lacking detail, being based on ‘blind optimism’ and not fully quantifying the impact rural land use change will have on the UK’s food security. The proof will most likely be in the pudding.

IS IT ENOUGH?

There has clearly been a lot of activity from Defra in the past year – this blog doesn’t even touch on the new productivity and capital grants schemes – but that does not necessarily make up for the BPS income reductions that farmers are now experiencing.

It is important to remember that ELM doesn’t offer a replacement for BPS. ELM is paying farmers for managing their land in new ways – unlike BPS, there will be costs involved. To make up for that lost income, the opportunities of emerging private markets are tempting, and it is good that Defra doesn’t want to ‘crowd out’ private finance. But how exactly it will make sure of this is less clear.

One thing is certain: there is a lot of new information for land managers to get to grips with. And that’s before we’ve even touched on the Environment Act and things like Biodiversity Net Gain and Local Nature Recovery Strategies. It can seem quite daunting, but our advice would be to think innovatively, positively and possibly even collaboratively in order to make the most of these new funding opportunities.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Contact Molly Biddell

Savills Rural

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This story has been submitted by an Agri-TechE member.

Savills Limited

Member News

Could water capture solve the irrigation crisis?

Agri-TechE Article

Agri-TechE

The Felixstowe Peninsular is one of the driest areas of the country, yet every year thousands of tonnes of fresh water are pumped away into the River Deben. A collaborative project set up by farmers is reclaiming the water, storing it in artificial aquifers to supply summer irrigation. It offers potential for sustainable consumption while protecting the fragile wetlands. This is just one example of how technology can provide new solutions.

The Agri-TechE event ‘Water Innovation for Agriculture’ is taking a look at the water challenge from a new perspective.

Dr Belinda Clarke, Director of Agri-TechE , comments: “The summer water deficit for food production is well-known, but many of the plans to create a sustainable water supply focus mainly on policy and infrastructure – to reduce water use and create reservoirs.

“If summers get hotter and drier then the requirement for agricultural water is going to increase, and worryingly, as we saw last year, some of the borehole water is turning to brine. We need to look at the issues and for solutions in different ways and a multi-disciplinary approach is required.”

Kelly Hewson-Fisher, NFU (web) — Kelly Hewson-Fisher, NFU

A speaker at the event, Kelly Hewson-Fisher, National Water Resources Specialist at National Farmers’ Union, agrees: “I think collaboration’s going to be key for unlocking potential. In terms of innovation, we need to be looking at utilising water more efficiently and more effectively to ensure we can still maintain food security and food supply.”

Many crops rely on irrigation during the summer and there have been recent developments in smart water management. Such innovations include where water is delivered according to crop need, products that increase retention of water in the soil, and systems that re-use wastewater. These options will be discussed at the event by Aquagrain, Wroot Water and Tailwater Systems.

However, access to water for food cannot be guaranteed. The current abstraction licenses, which enable farmers to pump water from rivers and boreholes, are to be replaced with permits in 2024. If the water cannot be removed from the catchment sustainably – i.e. when water levels become low – then permission will be refused.

Kelly continues: “We need to be able to capture and store water better, including rainwater harvesting and by abstracting flood water and storing it in a reservoir. In 2022 Defra supported this with grant funding through its Farming Transformation Fund and that was well subscribed.

“However, if we are to implement these initiatives we need alignment between grant funding for innovation, planning permission for reservoirs and obtaining an abstraction licence if one is required. Otherwise, it won’t work.”

She gives one example of a good farmer-led project, the Felixstowe Hydrocycle, that captures freshwater destined for the sea and reutilises it back inland. “It has filled about six on-farm reservoirs. It is those types of win:win innovation that we need to explore.”

The Hydrocycle scheme uses a ‘managed aquifer recharge’ – an innovative method of water storage which uses the natural water holding capacity of the underlying strata. Surplus water is pumped into shallow lagoons or trenches where it soaks into the ground, supplementing normal winter rainfall and helping to recharge groundwater stores.

“We also need modelling to see the implications of infrastructure developments and to see the impact on different sectors of the options that are being proposed in the National and Regional Water Strategies,” Kelly continues.

“It is essential that better information from the agricultural sector is fed into those models. One ambition is to raise the water table in the Fens. The water is currently carefully managed by the internal drainage boards, who play a critical role; it is vital they are part of any suggested solution.

“It is impossible to raise the water table in just one field; it is all interlinked with neighbouring land and will have an impact on cropping and stock levels.

“Collaboration is really the key to unlocking opportunities and potential, so if we can do that in a cross-sector, multi-sector arena and forum then you would think it would have to open up the opportunities that are available to us all.”

Agri-TechE is hosting the event ‘Water Innovation for Agriculture‘ on 8^th February at Cranfield University. Speakers include: Kelly Hewson-Fisher, Daniel Johns (CEO at Water Resources East), Prof Jerry Knox and Dr Rob Simmons (both of Cranfield University) and innovators Tailwater Systems, Wroot Water and Aquagrain.

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