We’re revving up for REAP 2022 … and this year it’s getting personal.
The introduction of digital technologies on farms is heralding a new era of personalised, data-driven, de-risked management support across agriculture.
The opportunity created by this parallel digital world is that farmers will be empowered to explore different potential production scenarios in some detail and without risk – including predicted crop yields, anticipated livestock growth rates, field performance, and even entire ecosystems before deciding on – and investing in – new interventions.
But all this futuristic thinking must always stay grounded in the needs of farmers – after all, that’s the purpose of Agri-TechE, to help inform and accelerate the journey of innovation into commercial practice in the industry.
Monitoring industry trends
‘Making Sense of Agriculture’ is the latest development of our flagship REAP conference.
Here at Agri-TechE, we’re often asked how we decide on event topics and the simple answer is we talk to our members, we listen to the wider “agri-tech mood music” in the UK and globally, and monitor emerging industry technology trends.
We also invite great speakers who have the capacity to inspire, inform and challenge delegates and help create an environment ripe for learning and collaboration.
Individual members of the Agri-TechE team also have their own particular interests.
Becky, for example, has been inspired by the potential for the gamification of agriculture. Fiona returned from a recent event and shared with us all the latest thinking around “digital twins” in vertical farming. Diego has been thinking about where Artificial Intelligence can take us with smart farming.
And we’ve all been wondering if the so-called Metaverse will ever be a reality, and if so, what could be the implications for agriculture.
Precision farming gets personal
For some years now we’ve been observing the direction of travel of the healthcare industry towards personalised medicines, driven by an increasing appreciation that drugs don’t work in the same way for everyone, or can act differently in combination with other treatments.
The use of so-called “in silico” modelling (ie computer-generated) enables the digital design of new 3D molecules, and theoretical predictions made about how they might behave based on existing data – all before they are ever made in a laboratory or offered to real patients. This enables a lower-risk and much cheaper way of exploring the art-of-the-possible, before committing to it in the real world.
Precision agriculture is similarly evolving from a “one size fit all” philosophy to a more personalised and bespoke approach, which is rapidly gaining traction thanks to technology enablers delivering tools for tailored management of plants, animals and fields.
Leveraging the interface between real and digital worlds
At REAP 2022 we’ll be discussing how farmers, innovators and the wider agri-food supply chain can operate more effectively at this exciting interface between the real-world and digital universes. We’ll explore the advent and impact of new tools – both in the field and in the “cloud” – which are generating ever more tailored insights to individual fields, farms and ecosystems.
Inspired by our keynote speaker – Elizabeth Fastiggi, Head of Agriculture at Amazon Web Services – we’ll also be discovering how the integration of complex, noisy information sources – such as from sensor technology, breeding performance, weather data and soil reports – can help yield unprecedented insights into the performance of individual farms, fields, animals and plants.
Join the discussion
To register for REAP 2022 click here – and hear from innovative farmers and growers, exciting new start-ups, and join us on a journey of discovery about cutting edge agri-tech research primed to deliver value to the industry.
As well as an exhibition showcasing new technologies, you can enjoy high-quality networking opportunities, and be part of the ecosystem coming together to collectively embrace 21st Century agriculture.
We look forward to seeing you there!
REAP 2022: ‘Making Sense of Agriculture’ – Tuesday 8th November 2022
From yield mapping and precision livestock through to digital twins and cloud computing, at REAP 2022 we will be demystifying the technology and looking at the implications from a field to landscape level. Making technology farm-centric is core to Agri-TechE’s mission so a key feature of the conference will be a panel of farmers and producers discussing the emerging technologies and future scenarios.