farms Archives - Agri-EPI Centre

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Exploring the importance of soil health

Around 6 million hectares of soil in England and Wales are at risk of either erosion or compaction and intensive agriculture has caused arable soils to lose between 40 and 60 percent of their organic carbon (gov.uk). The fertility of soils can be determined by soil analyses, which provide fundamental information on the status of a soil and enable the scheduling of fertiliser, lime and manure applications to maximise production.​ ​

Claire Hodge, Head of Agri-Tech (Crops) at Agri-EPI, said:

There is a need for agri-tech to support the measurement and management of soil health and fertility, and importantly we see a role for agri-tech to help farmers make better decisions on their soil health day by day. Our aim is to use real time soil analysis and quality data to understand changing farming systems and environmental conditions.”

Agri-EPI Centre released a questionnaire to their network of innovation farmers to obtain a greater understanding of the soils they work with and to steer future decisions about adopting new technology on farm. The questionnaire covered a wide range of topics all relating to the management of the soil on the farms. It was clear from the farmers’ responses that they are interested in improving their soil and understanding how they can produce crops and grass from their soil with the minimum number of inputs being used.

Regenerative agriculture has recently received significant attention from producers, farmers and growers, and Agri-EPI’s innovation farmers are taking different approaches to achieve more regenerative farming systems. Carbon sampling is one approach but the uptake within the network is only 56% of the farmers taking part. The farmers are generally looking at the value of their soils and how this can be measured in their businesses.

The most frequent complaint by the farmers was non-compatible services and having to rely on too many different platforms to reference crops, livestock, yields and soil samples.

 

Recommendations

  • There is a need for more research into reliable carbon sampling and interpretation of results. Standardised carbon auditing across the network is required for accurate measurements and collection of data on the farms.

 

  • Technology that can aid in the compatibility of services between farmers and allow for the storing of easily accessible information is also required. This could take the form of a platform used across the network for the collection and storage of the farms data.

 

  • It is necessary to assess the activities taking place on the farms in the network to determine whether they are having a positive or negative influence on regenerative practices.

 

  • The measure of nutrient application in variable rate manner is required for better utilisation of slurry, dung, fertiliser and lime.

 

  • The development of a soil mapping platform would aid in the measurement of many land-based activities including the spreading of fertiliser. This would aid in measuring change in the soil over specific periods of time.

 

Agri-EPI will be hosting a special interest group online event: ‘Exploring the importance of soil health’ on 19th April 11AM-12PM. Join to take part in forward thinking discussions, build community networks, and engage with other technology companies and farmers around how soil health can address specific challenges on farm.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/special-interest-group-exploring-the-importance-of-soil-health-tickets-557721759797

Agri-EPI expands farms team

Agri-EPI has developed its farm offering, including the addition of new members to their Farm management team over the last few of months.

Ross Robertson, head of mixed farms said:

“Over the last few months Agri-EPI has been investing heavily in its Mixed Farms Team and network of farms, bringing in an on-farm technician, enabling us to implement assets on farm, as well as speeding up the process of collecting data. In doing this, it will allow us to pick out gaps which could benefit from the use of technology to help aid on-farm decisions, as well as help to form project ideas & future collaborations with tech companies.”

 

Agri-EPI’s new crop farms technician, Richard Round, studied biology at the University of Bristol and received his Master’s in future food sustainability from Cranfield University. These studies equipped him with an understanding of the relationships between agriculture and the environment, and the challenges facing both in the 21st century. As crop farms technician, Richard ensures that all equipment on farm functions optimally, and that a strong line of communication is maintained between Agri-EPI and the crop farmers within the innovation farms network. By working on a variety of projects, Richards hopes to help bring forward innovation within the agricultural sector and promote both efficiency and sustainability within farming.

 

Agri-EPI’s new mixed farms technician, Murray Watson, works on the ground with mixed farms in Agri-EPI’s innovation farms network as the point of contact for the farmers. Murray comes from a family farm in Scotland, farming beef, sheep, and poultry. He has experience working on large dairy farms specialising mainly in calf rearing and herd management and he studied Agriculture at SRUC. Murray assists with the implementation of new tech and management of assets on Agri-EPI’s mixed farms.

 

Chukwudi Okolo has been at Agri-EPI since 2021 as project coordinator but has recently joined the Farms team to assist with the coordination and support of farm network activities. Having studied business management and business psychology, Chukwudi came to Agri-EPI eager to further his knowledge and experience in project management. He is now assisting with asset procurement and deployment for the farms, managing records and documents, and maintaining communication between Agri-EPI and our innovation farmers.

 

The Heads of the farms team include Claire Hodge, head of agri-tech (crops), Ross Robertson, head of agri-tech (mixed), Duncan Forbes, dairy project specialist, Robert Morrison, head of agri-tech (dairy) and Mike Jones, dairy technical manager.

 

Claire Hodge brings to the role as head of crops her in-depth knowledge and experience of the crop sector, and wide network of connections. Based at Agri-EPI’s Northern Hub in Edinburgh, she works both nationally and internationally and plays an especially important role in expanding the activities of Agri-EPI’s farm network. After graduating from Newcastle University in 2005 with a degree in agriculture, Claire worked on farms in New Zealand before joining Greenvale AP in 2006. It was here that she was introduced to the opportunities within the potato industry. Taking on various roles in procurement, trading, agronomy and factory production, she learnt about the challenges of the cycles in potato production.

 

Ross Robertson, head of mixed farms, comes from a farming background and has worked on farms from a young age. Ross graduated from SAC Craibstone with an HND in agriculture and went straight to work on a pedigree Aberdeen Angus farm. He progressed into sales after several years and then into area management and product development with a local manufacturer of quality livestock equipment. Working with technology equipment at development and design stages in an IUK project then led to furthering his career into his role at Agri-EPI Centre.

 

Dairy project specialist, Duncan Forbes, has great record of experience in the dairy industry. After several years in practical farming, Duncan moved into farm management consultancy and worked over twenty years as managing director at Kingshay. In his role at Agri-EPI Centre, based in Somerset, he is focussing on the development of the dairy research and demonstration facility for 180 cows combining robotic milking and feeding in a state-of-the-art building with precision grazing.

 

Agri-EPI’s head of dairy, Robert Morrison, has dedicated himself to the advancement of technology within the agri-tech sector throughout his career, with a particular focus on bringing tech to market. He served as the product manager at Fullwood Ltd, playing a crucial role in a global team responsible for conceptualising, designing, and introducing automated milking products within the Fullwood Packo Group. As head of dairy at Agri-EPI he is able to collaborate with a diverse range of exciting innovators, and work towards developing the next generation of agri-tech products contributing to the global effort of feeding the world, while also striving towards a carbon net zero future. Robert is deeply passionate about leveraging technology to enhance the productivity of farmers and facilitate them to work more sustainably to meet the growing needs of our society.

 

Finally, Mike Jones, dairy technical career, has centred his career on sustainable farm management in the dairy sector, including as Farm Manager of Wyndhurst Farm, Langford. Latterly he was precision technical manager at Cogent Breeding, where he was responsible for development and application of precision technology. Mike is based at Agri-EPI’s South West Dairy Development Centre but is responsible for dairy assets UK-wide. He plays a key role in steering Agri-EPI’s technical strategy in the dairy sector, as well as providing technical expertise and guidance in agri-tech R&D projects. He has a passion for dairy farming and in particular cow health and welfare. He brings experience in cow health monitoring technologies, remote management of dairy herds, cow mobility and fertility management, and in the practical deployment and use of agri-tech on dairy farms.

Data-capture and use focus of innovation farm walk

Data-capture and use is the focus of a farm walk at one of Agri-EPI Centre’s technology and innovation trial farms.

The event will take place at Upper Nisbet Farm, Jedburgh, by kind permission of farmers Robert and Jac Neill, on Tuesday 11 October.

Participants will be able to hear about the Neills’ experience of implementing new technology on the farm in conjunction with Agri-EPI Centre, including Crover, the grain-monitoring robot, which burrows into stored grain to check moisture levels and temperature. The Neills also utilise machinery and equipment from Agri-EPI Centre members John Deere, Keenan and Trutest who will talk about their technology.

Robert Neill said:

“The farming industry needs new technology and there are some things that are already delivering really good results at Upper Nisbet. My experience with GPS has been unbelievably good; I can drill crops with much greater precision, meaning I don’t sow in inefficiency at the start of the season. If I know that the combine is exactly where it is meant to be, I can concentrate on other settings, such as keeping the header full. It also means I’m much less exhausted at the end of the day.”

Ross Robertson, head of mixed farming at Agri-EPI Centre said:

“The farming industry needs new technology to become more efficient. Some things have potential and some don’t, but this doesn’t always become clear until they are trialled on working farms.

“Agri-EPI Centre works with arable and livestock farms the length and breadth of the UK, enabling us to undertake and research new technology, commercial trials and data analysis in as many different situations as possible. I am really looking forward to hearing how Robert and Jac are getting on with the technology at Upper Nisbet and to learning about what works and where they see opportunities for development.”

Agri-EPI hosts agri-tech focused tour for New Zealand delegation

This month Agri-EPI hosted a visit from Callaghan Innovation and Agritech New Zealand.

Beginning with a visit to one of their satellite farms, Kaiapoi Farm, farmer Robert Hodgkins showcased his new sheep dairy and discussed the realities of farming in the UK and opportunities for deployment of agri-tech.

Agri-EPI works with an extensive network of real commercial farms and research facilities in the UK and internationally, offering a platform through which innovators can verify the effectiveness of their new idea or technology in practice.Their farm network is key to connecting farmers with technology developers, advancing the adoption of agri-tech and enhancing the sustainability of farm businesses.

The next leg of the visit involved a tour of Agri-EPI’s new Agri-informatics building at Cranfield University and the shared Agri-EPI Centre and Crop Health & Protection – CHAP phenotyping glasshouse facility, a superb asset for companies to use for R&D and trials. They were joined there by representatives from the university, CHAP, and Innovate UK.

With a stopover to UK Dairy Day, they watched Agri-EPI members at MilktechNZ showcase their award winning CR-1 electronic cup removers, followed by a visit to Harper Adams University where Hands Free Farm demonstrated their autonomous combine harvester in action.

The final stop was Agri-EPI’s Midlands Agri-tech Innovation Hub where networking and discussions around UK funding and the potential for future collaboration took place.

Jane Lycett, International Business Development Manager at Agri-EPI, who coordinated the visit, said:

“It was great to host an inward mission of innovative agri-tech companies, led by Callaghan Innovation and Agritech New Zealand. The visit provided an opportunity to showcase a number of Agri EPI Centre’s facilities and expertise and discuss areas for future collaboration between UK and New Zealand.”

Specialising in connecting knowledgeable experts and new solutions across the agricultural sectors, Agri-EPI aims to help deliver profitable and sustainable cutting-edge technologies to market.