Record attendance for the 11th REAP Agri-TechE Conference

Optimise one or manage many?

Attendees of REAP 2024 learned that, in the future, both might be possible with new technologies powered by artificial intelligence.

Farmers, researchers, tech developers and members of the agriculture ecosystem gathered in record numbers for the REAP Conference on November 6^th. Interest in the event extended to the press, with BBC and ITV news reporting from REAP alongside specialist agricultural journalists.

The stellar line-up of speakers stimulated much discussion about the industry’s future direction and how AI will power this, led by REAP’s keynote session.

Substitute, augment and transform is how keynote speaker Dr Elliott Grant summarised the opportunities for AI in agriculture. He likened AI’s current position to the internet in 1997, where it is apparent that it will be a significant development, but the transformational change it will deliver in the future is unimaginable.

Repetitive tasks, especially digital ones, will be the first to be substituted by AI, predicted Dr Grant. This has already begun and can be as simple as using a chatbot to help with advanced information searching or written communication.

Further to substitution is augmentation, where AI will improve tasks carried out by humans. Dr Grant cited crop plot assessments for disease levels as an example of this. Work he conducted at Mineral AI used robots powered by AI to scan wheat plots for levels of rust infection, which were found to be quicker and more accurate than human assessments.

Dr Grant predicted that the transformational change in agriculture from AI will come within the next ten years. It isn’t easy to visualise this in 2024, but it is expected to include automation and super-charged data processing.

The following session on supply chains assembled representatives from three industry heavyweights: Bayer, John Deere and Unilever. They discussed how collaboration can drive innovation.

Cambridgeshire farmer Tom Pearson then quizzed scientists on their findings from the latest farmer-focused research in the Emerging Agri-Tech: Research in Practice session.

To close the day was the Start-up Showcase, with the closely guarded line-up finally unveiled. Nicole Sadd, CEO of Rothamsted Enterprises, probed Dr Boris Breiner from Lambda Agri about what the firm was looking for following the Start-up Showcase – his response, a shout-out to the crowd seeking a company able to manufacture chemicals at scale, elicited a live, successful match!

Anna Sophie Deetjen, co-founder of Morrow, addressed sustainability and food security with coffee produced from alternative sources. She said coffee has some of the worst CO₂ and water credentials of any food ingredient, and the UK imports £1.2bn of coffee each year. Their innovation uses UK-grown ingredients such as faba beans or barley and upcycled ingredients such as pips and malts.

Outside the sessions, the exhibition attracted significant interest from attendees and journalists – including a dedicated Farmers Weekly Podcast episode – with technology from Extend Robotics, Living Optics, and Versatile RobotX featured on TV broadcast reports.

The positivity and thought-provoking speakers brought the delegation together and stimulated countless networking opportunities. Indeed, REAP closed with the last remaining guests of the networking session asked to fill in as the backdrop for the second live news broadcast of the evening.

Did you miss out on exclusive access to the Back to the Future report at REAP?

Attendees of REAP 2024 were treated to a pre-release of the Agri-TechE Back to the Future report.

The report marks 10 years of Agri-TechE and provides a 360-degree overview of what is needed to maintain the momentum from the 2013 Agri-TechE Strategy. It reflects on both the successes and current challenges agri-tech faces.

Members of Agri-TechE gained early access of the Report, with official release on Friday 22 November. To view the Back to the Future Report, click here.