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UK dairy agri-tech businesses to showcase technology in Ukraine event

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UK-based agri-tech companies that provide agri-technology solutions to the dairy farming and dairy processing sectors are being sought to develop a dairy centre of excellence in Ukraine’s Berdychiv district.

The centre, currently in the approval stages, would replace an existing dairy farm owned by leading agricultural company and grain production and export specialist, Nibulon. As well as increasing the dairy farm’s herd size, the centre will act as a centre of excellence to showcase innovative agri-tech in the dairy industry.

Declining milk production in Ukraine combined with rapidly increasing demand for dairy products has resulted in a critical need to improve the productivity and profitability of Ukraine’s dairy industry. In order to stimulate Ukraine’s dairy sector, UK agri-tech experts are being invited to demonstrate technical agricultural solutions on a commercial farm and processing unit. 

Register here

An exciting opportunity for UK agri-tech businesses

In partnership with the Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (CIEL), Agri-EPI Centre has been asked by the Department for International Trade (DIT) to connect with leading agri-tech businesses in the UK, inviting them to become a part of Agri-EPI Centre’s UK Smart Farm project in Ukraine and explore unique export opportunities in the country. As one of the UK’s two Agri-Tech Centres, Agri-EPI are well-placed to produce a blueprint for modern, efficient “smart” dairy, with a high health-status herd and integrated farmhouse cheese making.

“This is an exciting call for UK agri-tech businesses to potentially showcase their technology,” said Agri-EPI Centre’s Business Development Director Lisa Williams. “The UK has access to a wide portfolio of technical solutions that can help Nibulon and the wider dairy sector in Ukraine reach its aspirations.”

Jane Grady, HM Deputy Trade Commissioner for Eastern Europe and Central Asia:

“We want to bring together a group of innovative British companies to showcase UK excellence in dairy management and cheese making and become part of our new innovative UK Smart Farm project in Ukraine.”

Interested companies are invited to join a webinar to find out more about the project, Nibulon and agri-tech export opportunities in the Ukraine dairy sector. The webinar takes place on March 17th, from 12 – 13:15 GMT (14:00 – 15:15 EET).

The webinar will cover:

  • An overview of UK agri-tech export opportunities
  • UK agri-tech companies already successfully exporting to Ukraine 
  • The dairy sector opportunity in Ukraine
  • An overview of Nibulon
  • How Agri-EPI Centre & CIEL can support your agri-tech in Ukraine

To find out more about the webinar, visit our dedicated events section. To register to take part, go straight to the webinar registration page.

Event partners

Agri-EPI Centre is partnering with CIEL to showcase UK agri-tech business in UkraineAgri-EPI Centre is partnering with DIT to showcase UK agri-tech business in Ukraine

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Keep up to date with the latest impact and results of our work, plus, news, innovation and approaches across the sector. Read our latest news and Agri-EPI blogs.

Kiwi alliance speeds innovation development

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Global collaboration plays a vital role in developing solutions for our farming industries – so in September we were delighted to receive 20+ visitors from New Zealand on an innovation-led agri-tech mission. The visit followed our own expert mission to New Zealand in March this year: our nations have many farming similarities, so agri-tech innovators are uniquely placed to share challenges and opportunities.

Farmers across the UK and Ireland already use technology from New Zealand companies like LIC, Gallagher, Waikato and Tru-Test, and there is plenty that our own innovators can do to help farmers across the globe. The challenges are the same whether you farm in New Zealand or the UK: achieving greater productivity and efficiencies, labour availability, environmental pressures and changing consumer preferences. Smart technological solutions can help answer those challenges.

With the help of the Department of International Trade, Innovate UK, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, the Callaghan Innovation-led mission visited the Irish National Ploughing Championships and UK Dairy Day, as well as our Agri-EPI hub in the Midlands and the South West Dairy Development Centre in Somerset.

Les Hurdiss, Operations Manager at the Midlands Agri-Tech Innovation Hub, explains:

“Agriculture is New Zealand’s number one industry, so their government really promotes innovation. But the domestic market is small, so they need to expand globally.”

By creating ‘landing pads’ in the UK, employing British staff, receiving British investment and developing new innovations for the British market, everyone stands to benefit.

In addition, having a straightforward entry to the New Zealand market helps our own investors and innovators, while having a presence on opposite sides of the world speeds up technological advances due to the ability to squeeze two seasons of testing into one 12-month period.

Having returned to New Zealand, Peter Wren-Hilton, Executive Director of Agritech New Zealand, has already drafted actions and initiatives to submit to Government ministers. Times are moving rapidly ahead: watch this space.

Logo KTNMission report

Earlier this year, Agri-EPI Centre took part in Agri-Tech Expert Missions to Australia and New Zealand respectively. KTN has delivered two separate publications that summarise the opportunities for UK organisations in both areas and insights gathered during the delegation’s time. Don’t miss out on these insightful documents and download them here.

Innovate UK’s Global Expert Missions, led by Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Network, play an important role in building strategic partnerships, providing deep insight into the opportunities for UK innovation and shaping future programmes.

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Keep up to date with the latest impact and results of our work, plus, news, innovation and approaches across the sector. Read our latest news and Agri-EPI blogs.

How to prepare your business for Brexit

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The Government’s Brexit negotiations appear to be continuing to the deadline, and while great uncertainty remains there are some knowns which can help businesses prepare. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has issued a series of bulletins to guide agri-food businesses through the UK’s departure from the EU, which is currently scheduled to take place on 31 October. Specific guidance for food and drink businesses is available on the Food and Drink GOV.UK landing page, including advice for importers and exporters of animal products, food labelling, tariffs, data protection and more.

There are also several events and webinars available:

> Brexit Business Readiness Events

The Government is arranging free Brexit Business Readiness Events across the UK where you can meet Government advisers and find out what actions to take.

The events will combine a keynote address, interactive support, advice stands and in-depth sessions led by subject matter experts. They will provide delegates with specific business-focused advice and help.

Register to attend an event at: https://registration.livegroup.co.uk/brexitbusinessreadinessevents/

> DIT Get ready for Brexit business-facing workshops

The Department for International Trade is also running a series of events to help exporters to get ready for Brexit – these will be particularly useful for businesses who are exporting to the EU.

DIT will talk about the impact to supply chains, changes to regulations and contracts, where to find tariff information, and what you might need to speak to customers and employees about. You will leave the event with a personalised action plan to prepare your business for Brexit.

See dates, locations and sign up – limited registration place available.

> HMRC Getting ready for Brexit webinars

HMRC is running a number of webinars for UK businesses involved in the movement of goods between the EU and the UK.

Find out what you need to know to keep importing and exporting by signing up for a webinar.

> Trading with the UK as an EU business after Brexit

If you’re an EU business not established in the UK, check what you’ll need to do differently to trade with the UK in a no-deal Brexit. The guidance can be found here.

> Identify livestock for export to the EU in a no-deal Brexit

The UK can continue exporting livestock to the EU in a no-deal Brexit however there is a requirement to follow some extra rules on ear tagging. Please find guidance on how to identify sheep, cattle, pigs and goats when exporting to the EU in a no-deal Brexit.

> Food exporters: Get ready for animal health regulations

Importers and exporters of animals and animal products – including meat, cheese and fish – will be subject to new requirements if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. George Eustice MP shares his thoughts here.

> How to move goods through RORO locations in a no-deal Brexit

A process flow for freight roll-on, roll-off (RORO) imports and exports between the UK and the EU for a no-deal Brexit (excluding Northern Ireland) is available here.

> Hauliers and commercial drivers will need new documents to transport goods into the EU after Brexit

GOV.UK guidance is available here summarising document requirements for the driver, vehicle, cargo and customs to transport goods into the EU after Brexit.

> EU Regulation: Smarter rules for safer food

The EU is introducing new rules to protect against animal disease and plant pests. The new Official Controls Regulation (EU) 2017/625 and Plant Health Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 will apply in EU member states from 14 December 2019. How and when the UK implements these regulations will depend on Brexit. UK exporters will need to comply with these regulations when they come into force in all Brexit scenarios. Further information on this can be found here.

 

Stay informed

Keep up to date with the latest impact and results of our work, plus, news, innovation and approaches across the sector. Read our latest news and Agri-EPI blogs.

Paraguay mission for UK agri-tech

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The exciting opportunities for trade with Latin American markets were the focus of a recent successful trade mission to Paraguay involving several UK agri-tech companies.

The mission was led by Agri-EPI Centre, working in close partnership with the Department for International Trade and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It featured the Ministerial launch of the Agri-EPI-led Paraguay Satellite Demonstration Farm at the Paraguay Expo 2019, a major event showcasing the country’s farming, industrial and services sectors.

Partners Paraguay Agri-Tech Mission

Partnership banner Paraguay AgriTech Mission July 2019Agri-EPI Centre has been leading the Innovate UK- supported Satellite Demonstration Farm project in Paraguay since January 2018. It has involved partnering with a farming business to demonstrate UK agri-tech in the agricultural economy of Paraguay.

The farming business, GVasa in San Pedro, spans 85,000 hectares and incorporates cattle, maize, soybean and rice production enterprises.  The initial focus of the Smart Farm project has been on improving finishing cattle efficiency through remote live weight monitoring and improved nutrition. The ability to capture real time live weight data empowers dynamic decision making combined with improved nutrition, leading to better feed conversion efficiency.

The economic outcome of introducing UK technology means more profitable farming systems, reduced environmental footprint and improved economic sustainability.

There have so far been two UK commercial partners involved in trials on the farm. Ritchie Agricultural has provided in field weigh crates for cattle, while Harbro has been trialling its Maxammon feed supplement.

Next steps for the Smart Farm project are to continue with the current trials and to assess the priorities for additional activities. Two areas currently being considered are technology for tracking cattle across the huge swathes of land on typical Paraguay cattle ranches, and gathering harvest data.

Joining the trade mission were Hummingbird Technologies, Brinicombe Agri and AGCOM. With Agri-EPI and DIT representatives, the delegates visited the Smart Farm in San Pedro, attended a reception hosted by the UK Ambassador to Paraguay Matthew Hedges; took part in the Smart Farm launch with the participation of Paraguay Agriculture Minister Juan Carlos Denis Lichi, Vice Minister of Agriculture Nicasio Romero and Vice Minister of Livestock Marcelo Gonzáles.

The delegation also had an opportunity for B2B networking with some of the many Latin American businesses attending the Expo, and gave positive feedback about the potential opportunities arising from the trip.

Dr Elizabeth Warham, DIT’s Agri-Tech Lead said:

There is often a reluctance from the end-user – farmer or agri-business distributor – to purchase technology that has not been validated and tested by farmers in the target market, making it difficult for companies to sell technology at a trade event to enter a new export market. A showcase demo smart farm provides a platform for companies to collect data, support claims and illustrate product effectiveness in-country. Where these smart farms are connected to the UK Agri-Tech Innovation Centres – in this case Agri-EPI – academic and research organisations can also be engaged to further develop technologies, so they are appropriate to the local context.

Dave Ross, Chief Executive of Agri-EPI said:

There are tremendous opportunities for trade in Paraguay, where there is openness to the UK and great interest in our agri-tech know-how. It is worth highlighting the benefits of the local Maquila regime that affords benefits for UK companies who become active in Paraguay, and then qualify for tariff-efficient access to whole of Mercosur, the Southern Common Market. We thank the companies who took part in the mission and look forward to continuing our exciting collaboration with UK and Paraguay partners.

Ian Cox, Agri-Tech Centres Innovation Lead of Innovate UK, added:

Innovate UK is particularly happy to have supported this Smart Farm in Paraguay. I am heartened by the progress made in demonstrating how UK technology can help to reduce the environmental footprint of farming in Paraguay whilst at the same time improving productivity and profitability. I hope this can lead to further joint collaborations with Paraguay companies to develop further the technologies needed to help solve some of the fundamental problems the planet faces to feed a growing global population.

 

Stay informed

Keep up to date with the latest impact and results of our work, plus, news, innovation and approaches across the sector. Read our latest news and Agri-EPI blogs.

Commercial Agri-Tech opportunities in India for Agri-EPI and partners

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As part of the UK’s new Technology Partnership with India, Agri-EPI Centre will be part of a trade delegation travelling to the cities of Chandigarh, New Delhi and Mumbai in December, taking part in a major tech festival along the way.

As the world’s the largest single agricultural market, farming contributes 16 per cent of India’s GDP, employing 49% of the Indian workforce on 160 million hectares of arable land to provide food for 1.3 billion people. With more than half of the Indian population expected to live in urban areas by 2050 and agricultural workers dropping to just over a quarter of the total workforce, mechanisation and technology will play an increasingly important role in improving the productivity, efficiency and sustainability of Indian agriculture.

Led by the UK Government’s Department for International Trade, the UK trade delegation will meet with senior policy makers in the Indian Government, three State Governments and private sector companies. The aim will be to gain insight of local market conditions, opportunities and challenges while building a collaborative network with senior decision makers, influencers, academics and buyers in the Indian agri-tech industry.

The programme will start north of Delhi in the combined Punjab/Haryana state capital, Chandigarh, and will include a roundtable with both state governments, progressive farmers and academic institutions.

On 12 December, the delegation will attend the ‘India-UK Future Tech Festival in Delhi, where they will participate in the ‘Path Breaking Innovations in Agriculture’ session. This will involve key officials in Indian Government, private businesses, research organisations and UK Government ministerial attendance.

Following the festival, the delegation head on to Mumbai to interact with leading private businesses as well as the Government of Maharashtra. The delegates will end their trip with visits to farms in the Nashik region, India’s leading wine-growing area. Watch this space for a report on the trip in early January!

Meanwhile, Agri-EPI Centre member Willand Group Ltd is holding an event in London on 15 January for businesses wishing to learn more about accessing the Indian agricultural market.

The ‘Opportunities for Agri-Tech: Indian Market Catalyst Event’ will offer a summary of the market and highlight the key opportunities available to UK/EU companies. Companies will also have an opportunity to ‘pitch’ to investors and businesses which are actively looking for investment opportunities. More information is available here.

Stay informed

Keep up to date with the latest impact and results of our work, plus, news, innovation and approaches across the sector. Read our latest news and Agri-EPI blogs.

Ground-breaking SmartFarm concept takes shape in Beijing

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he exciting collaboration between the UK and China around agri-tech innovation has taken a step forward following a visit to Beijing by an Innovate UK delegation – including Agri-EPI Centre representatives – to progress the ground-breaking SmartFarm concept.

The aim of SmartFarm is to develop a holistic approach to the food supply chain for a more efficient and sustainable approach to farming and food production. Beginning with the Agri-EPI-led pilot ‘SmartFarm 1.0’ in China, the plan is to create a transferable model for utilising a range of technology to gather data on inputs and outputs, in order to measure and reduce variation and increase productivity at all levels of the supply chain.

Ian Cox, Innovate UK’s Agri-Tech Centres Innovation Lead, said:

This concept is easy to talk about but difficult to deliver. We hope to take a radically different approach to the way normal projects work in that we are trying to identify the causes of a problem as opposed to treating the symptoms of it. This approach will give us a better understanding of the efficiency of the entire agri-food system.

UK-China SmartFarm DelegationAgri-EPI Centre will work closely with a variety of Chinese partners to progress ‘SmartFarm 1.0’. The key partner organisations are NERCITA, the National Engineering Research Centre for Information Technology in Agriculture, who will host the main elements of the Smart Farm 1.0. The other key partner is Chinese Ministry of Science and Technologies China Rural Technology Development Centre (CRTDC) who will oversee the Chinese delivery partners. The initial focus will be technology associated with arable crops to create a better understanding of productivity from the land resource.

During this visit to Beijing, the SmartFarm Construction Plan was signed by Innovate UK and CRTDC. This plan will enable CRTDC to proceed with the SmartFarm programme on the ground in China. Ian Cox along with Agri-EPI Chairman Willie Thomson and Chief Executive Dave Ross also took part in a number of meetings and workshops with senior Chinese politicians, government officials and scientists.

Dave Ross said:

We are delighted to participate in this brand-new venture, which should develop data combined with a holistic approach, to understand current levels of productivity and provide the insight to deliver improvements.

China is serious in its intent to modernise its agriculture over the next few years and improve the efficiency, productivity and environmental standards. Its 13th 5-year plan on Science and Innovation, adopted in 2016, has agri-tech at the heart of the programme, with a huge £1.5 billion of government investment in this area between 2016 and 2021.

Following on from this, Innovate UK and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technologies China Rural Technology Development Centre (CRTDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2016, in which both parties agreed to explore mutual collaboration covering the following areas:

  • big data in agriculture
  • precision agriculture
  • intelligent agricultural equipment
  • prevention and control of crop and animal diseases
  • agricultural biotechnology to explore improvements in crop health and protection
  • nutrition and health developing high quality nutritious foods which meet the needs of future consumers

SmartFarm is a key component of the Agri-Tech Flagship challenge, one of the major deliverables under the UK-China Science Technology and Innovation Strategy signed last December in London.

 

SmartFarm partners

Agri-EPI
Department for International Trade
Harbro
Logo Innovate UK
University of Strathclyde

Stay informed

Keep up to date with the latest impact and results of our work, plus, news, innovation and approaches across the sector. Read our latest news and Agri-EPI blogs.

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