REAP 2024 Farmer Panel: Opening our minds to alternatives

Gaining the big picture view about emerging agri-tech and bringing together others with different perspectives are two of the benefits of attending REAP, according to Mike Gooding who will be chairing the Farmer Panel.

The future might look quite different

Mike is a farmer by background and has recently joined the AHDB as the Crop and Livestock Services and Farming Systems Director. He says that he learns something new every day: “At REAP we are all learning together so I don’t mind asking what might appear to be the ‘silly question’ – which is probably why I am chairing the session!

“Having a variety of perspectives creates opportunities to open up your mind and to challenge yourself to think more about how ‘the future may well look quite different’.”

Mike also understands the challenges of agri-tech innovation. He chairs a start-up in Cambridge called SmartBell. It is developing an ear tag for livestock that can predict illness through minute changes in the animal’s physiology and behaviour. They are working with other sensors and technologies to bring an in-depth understanding of what happens at different life stages to provide insights that will ultimately secure the animal’s full genetic potential.

Early trials suggest it can detect early indicators of pneumonia in calves enabling interventions before they require antibiotics.

Benefit from different perspectives

The two SmartBell founders are experts in data and sensor technology, and they see agriculture as an area of opportunity. Veena worked for Amazon in the United States, and Jose is a gas and oil engineer.

“Get somebody from Amazon, and data issues are solvable,” continues Mike.  “Ask Jose about making the sensor more robust and he will say ‘well, this is how we do it in the oil industry’.

“What they are really progressing is a different attitude to data, and how it can be used and combined with other forms of data to advantage the livestock and farmer.

“They challenge me about decisions that farmers make – if we can’t justify it, we should open our minds up to alternatives.”

Mike gives the example of lameness which is an endemic condition in sheep but largely avoidable.

Multi-stranded strategy of technology and ideas reduces lameness

Working together with the team at FAI Farms in Oxfordshire a five-point lameness plan was developed offering a multi-stranded strategy of technologies and ideas. “By following this strategy, we reduced lameness to the point where I was able to go from 750 ewes on the farm to 1,250 ewes without any extra fixed costs and I started to make profit out of the sheep,” Mike explains.

“There was a straight economic benefit, a massive animal welfare benefit. And frankly, my staff were much happier because treating grotty, smelly feet is not a pleasant job.

“So, once we opened our minds up to being much more holistic, rather than simply the firefighting problem that’s directly in front of us, we brought around entire system change.”

The five-point lameness plan went on to be adopted across the sheep industry as a national strategy and is credited in reducing the prevalence of the disease in the UK from approximately 10% to 3%, a huge achievement.

“Having those different perspectives does build a much bigger picture. This is where I think the whole REAP conference should be about, not just the exciting technological opportunities, but how we apply them in practise.

Farm-centric innovation

Mike is keen to encourage as many farmers as possible to attend REAP and suggests these viewpoints would be good to discuss:

• The farmer perspective is vital – current on-farm challenges should be the key motivation for entrepreneurial development – solve that first and then expand. There is still a large group of people who are looking for the silver bullet scenario and it rarely exists and there can be unintended consequences. We do need that spirit and imagination – but arguably that should be financed with a different type of investment.
• New models are required for agri-tech investment – over the last 18 months it has been really difficult to access finance and increasingly we see investment funds holding the whip hand in what we can and can’t do in our agriculture and their time frames are different. If this country is serious about wanting to be at the forefront of innovation technology and to stimulate genuinely sustainable growth in our food production, then we need to find mechanisms and structures that encourage those agri-tech developments in practical ways and help overcome some of these key blockers.
• Need greater support from legislation – it’s not just small companies that are experiencing challenges gaining finance, it is a supply chain issue. A global food manufacturing business recently observed that their ability to adopt a more regenerative approach is limited by the requirement of their big institutional investors to deliver a level of return. If there was legislation to say, ‘you need to manufacture your food to X specification’, that would give them the leverage with their investors to say, look, this isn’t a commercial decision, this something we have to do.

The theme of REAP this year is the tipping point and this is multifaceted. We need solutions to on farm problems in the near term, but we’ve also got big challenges on the horizon that are coming closer. So where do you think the balance falls between precision and broad-brush?

To join us at REAP 2024, book your tickets here.