We were very please to be joined by from Adam Slate, Innovation Manager at Bx at our very first fully virtual YIF visit.
Bx Tech is a spin out of the Kent Fruit Produces, Bardsley England, and manage the agri-tech interests of Bardsley but also exploring climate tech, trying to change the way people grow, encouraging more regenerative approaches to sequest more carbon & be paid for ecosystems services that they can provide.
Bx are a climate tech business looking to support the reversal of climate change and benefit nature by transforming agriculture. They’re building tools to support growers to manage operations sustainably and while also looking after the farm’s ecosystems. The tools provide data from the farms, enabling a certification of the ecosystem services which they provide. Access to fruit farms which is used as the Bx Laboratory to trial the solutions, technologies and services. This allows for a R&D continuous improvement loop which is quite short speedin up the development of the tech and services.
Data is the key in the work Bx are doing. There are lots of areas in which sensors in orchards can collect useful data including gaining information around eco system services, surveying, climate issues, yield, scouting, quality as well as pest and disease. The sensors could be mounted on tractors, stationery in field, satellite feeds or mounted on drones.
This data collection will be offered alongside ‘Earth Exchange’, Bx’s carbon offsetting service which is on offer to corporates. allowing corporates to offset their carbon emissions.
Using the data collected on farm, Bx are creating digital twins as a way to use modelling to predict yield, rate of change of soil carbon etc. A challenge is ensuring that the quality of and right data is used to ensure the modelling is as accurate as possible. The models are is enabling an understanding of optimate system inputs to increase eco system services and operational efficiencies in orchards.
Farming as a service
Adam feels like in the future we should see farming as a service. This starts with farmers and growers, they provide the data which is captured by sensors in the field this then goes through the Bx data service. In return growers receive analytics around various metrics like finance, carbon, yield etc. Corporates can then be brought into this cycle and they can offset their carbon footprint and by paying growers for the carbon sequested and verified by Bx.
If you would like to catch-up on the talk with Adam, you can do so here.
Fiona Rust, Events and Young Innovators’ Co-Ordinator, Agri-TechE