The Challenge of Futurism with Barenbrug

As part of our “Back to the Future” project, we’re asking Agri-TechE members to reflect on how the agri-tech industry has evolved over the past decade and to share their vision for the next ten years. By compiling these insights, we aim to create a powerful outlook on the future of agriculture, a compelling call to arms for the industry driven by the diverse perspectives of our community.

This submission is part of the collection of reflections and predictions from our members, offering unique perspectives on the industry’s past milestones and future directions. Each contribution adds to a broader dialogue about the innovations and challenges that will shape the next decade in agri-tech.

It’s fair to say agriculture has undergone some dramatic changes in the last 10 years.

Technological advances have made agricultural processes significantly more efficient, resulting in cost savings, or increased yields. In the present, farmers are leading the charge in securing our environment for the future, harvesting not just crops but the information and data that will enable them to produce food more efficiently, more economically and yes, more sustainably too.

For Barenbrug, not only as a leading global plant breeder but also one of the UK’s largest grass seed breeders and growers, it is vital that our own breeding programmes consider the requirements of the future. The grass varieties we have in development now won’t be grown on-farm until the 2040s. What will farmers want, expect and need from their grass by then?

It’s not easy being a futurist. But we have good parameters to work within. Many of them are increasingly seen as good, standard practice. Take water utilisation, for instance: farming is a significant consumer of water, with approximately 70% of the world’s freshwater resources dedicated to agriculture. Plant breeders have long prioritised this, focusing on deep rooting traits that make crops less susceptible to drought and high rainfall.

Then there’s the adoption of low-input farming systems, With the concept of regenerative agriculture – where grass can play a resurgent role on every farm – becoming more widely understood and moving into the mainstream agricultural psyche, Barenbrug’s in a privileged position to communicate that, and to use our science-led results to show farmers how to do it.

With the right tools, and the right advice, we can help farmers themselves become part of the solution. Empowering them to adopt climate-smart farming practices, while still producing high-quality food, should be at the top of every plant breeder’s agenda.

That’s why Barenbrug’s model works so well. As far as grass is concerned, the British Isles demands a distinct grass genetics, to get the most from its climate and to satisfy the demands and expectations of British farming practices. There’s our ability to draw on our global genetic resources in the breeding of new UK varieties, and our partnerships with eminent research institutions such as AFBI in Northern Ireland.

Together, these give us the resources and expertise we need to improve and develop UK-specific germplasm that’s ready for the challenges of tomorrow, without compromising on farmers’ expectations today. Not just fancy claims, either: the partnership with AFBI has delivered a cumulative increase in grass yields of around 0.5% per annum over the last 33 years, and nearly 50 varieties added to the Recommended List.

Then there’s the promise of further new technologies. Endophytes, for example – bacteria that strike up a mutually beneficial relationship with plants – can boost the farmers’ arsenal to combat current and future pests and diseases, and improve nutrient acquisition, now that we’re understanding their potential and starting to harness their power. Or decarbonisation of farming: Barenbrug’s discovery of which genes to tackle to make fibre more digestible puts us in a position to demonstrate ‘lower methane’ varieties within 5-10 years.

It’s no understatement that we regard the quest for innovative, long-term solutions to our food production challenges with the same priority as, say, the need for clean energy generation, or the prospect of advances in medical science. Developing a menu of solutions – from the promise of gene editing to the potential of AI – that can be used as and when the elements demand will be key not only for future food production, but for food production that doesn’t harm the planet.

But we can’t do this alone. Farming is a community: we need to work together to support its evolution and agree how to find and adopt the sustainable practices we need to deliver on farming’s double commitment. Agriculture has gone from having the most important job in the world to the two most important jobs: food security and environmental mitigation. By focusing on what we do best – top-notch grass-breeding for the future – Barenbrug can help make that happen.