Innovation Week Archives - Agri-EPI Centre

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Innovation Week 2021: Five days celebrating innovation in agritech

Agri-EPI Centre’s Innovation Week 2021 may have taken place entirely online, but the expertise of the speakers and the fantastic response from attendees ensured the week was a huge success.

In five webinars over five days, we were joined by more than 15 speakers from across the agritech sector discussing the latest innovations and advancements in agricultural technology, from robotics and AI to crop sensing and animal health monitoring.

The event was a chance to bring together everyone and anyone with an interest in agritech innovation; we were joined by engineers, manufacturers, investors, business owners and academics eager to learn about the exciting projects Agri-EPI Centre has been involved in around the world.

A webinar a day

For the first session to kick off Innovation Week we explored the use of agritech to monitor animal behaviour and improve the health of livestock on-farm, and were joined by Dr. Chris Cormack of Quant Foundry, Gary McCarten of Pocket Sized Hands and Dr Rick D’Eath from the SRUC.

You can watch Monday’s Innovation Week webinar below.

Discussion covered the Behaviour Analytics Project, looking at how AI methods and analytics can be combined to offer farmers crucial insights into animal health, as well as the SmARtview and Tail Tech projects which, although currently in their infancy, have huge potential to improve farmers’ decision making using technology to closely monitor the animals’ wellbeing, whilst also improving the productivity and efficiency of farms.

Tuesday’s webinar explored how robotics, drones and ultra-fine bubble technology can be utilised in agriculture to increase the accuracy of yield prediction, prevent grain loss in storage and improve the efficiency and precision of crop spraying. Jared Bainbridge from Omega Crop opened the session, followed by presentations from Crover’s Lorenzo Conti and Professor Anthony Furness, of MagGrow.

You can watch Tuesday’s Innovation Week webinar below.

Wednesday’s presentations on increasing the productivity, quality and consistency of livestock across the entire supply chain. Andrew Loftus, Carol-Anne Duthie and Diego Sprekelsen, the team behind the OPTI-BEEF project, discussed how their work is contributing to improved sustainability and quality in beef production, as well as how the Agri-Tech Innovation Hubs supported both OPTI-BEEF and Healthy Heifer.

You can watch Wednesday’s Innovation Week webinar below.

 

Towards the end of the week the webinars explored broader topics in the agrifood sector. Thursday’s discussion of how the incredible work of SmartFarms around the world, in partnership with academic institutions and government bodies, is supporting farmers across the globe to improve productivity and earnings, was followed by Friday’s session on aquaculture lead by Greg Riddle of Northern Light Consulting.

You can watch Thursday’s Innovation Week webinar below.

From reducing pollution and minimising the environmental impact of fish farms to insights from Innovation Week 2021’s partner, Leyton, on how agritech innovators can source funding and tax relief to get their solutions to market, the final day of Innovation Week 2021 rounded off the week’s webinars perfectly.

You can watch Friday’s Innovation Week webinar below.

Until next time!

We’d like to say a huge thank you to all our speakers, including Agri-EPI Centre staff who did a fantastic job chairing the sessions, and also to the guests and attendees and anyone following along on Twitter. We were treated to 15 fantastic presentations and some really engaging discussion at the end of each session, inspired by insightful questions from the audience.

For information on Innovation Week 2022, and to keep up with all upcoming events from Agri-EPI Centre, make sure you’re following us on Twitter or keep an eye on our dedicated events page

Best of UK agri-tech to be showcased during Agri-EPI Centre’s Innovation Week 2021

From ground-breaking sustainable milk production to a quality-monitoring robot that can ‘swim’ through stored grain, Agri-EPI Centre will be showcasing exciting new technologies which support sustainable food production during its inaugural Innovation Week.

In partnership with the UK’s leading innovation funding experts, Leyton, the event will run from 24th to 28th May. Daily webinar sessions will explore how the UK agri-tech is playing a rapidly growing role in tackling pre-farm gate challenges and delivering improvements in efficiency and profitability, while addressing environmental concerns.

Innovation Week 2021

The programme will cover five themes:

  • Monday 24th May – Technologies which detect changes in animal behaviour and health on-farm 
  • Tuesday 25th May – Future proofing the arable sector with precision
  • Wednesday 26th May – Improving animal welfare and reducing variances at a producer level
  • Thursday 27th May – How UK agri-tech is making a difference around the world
  • Friday 28th May – Sustainable fish production

Each webinar will look at a variety of innovation projects being delivered by Agri-EPI in partnership with farm businesses, technology companies and research institutions. Speakers from each of the projects will provide their perspectives and answer the audience’s questions.

“A great event for inspiration and networking”

Agri-EPI Centre’s Chief Executive, Dave Ross, said: “Agri-EPI Centre is involved with more than 26 exciting agri-food projects on a national and international level. Whatever your place in the agri-food supply chain, our week-long event is a must to hear about the latest innovations. We’re extremely grateful to our sponsor Leyton for supporting what promises to be a great event for inspiration and networking.”

Mark Petty, Head of Strategic Alliances, Leyton UK, said: “It is extremely exciting to work with an organisation that shares our passion in championing the incredible Innovation that is taking place in the agri sector. We had no hesitation in supporting Agri-EPI Centre’s inaugural Innovation Week, it is a great opportunity to showcase cutting edge technological, environmental and welfare projects from all over the UK that are tackling the key challenges that the sector is facing.

“We have seen over the last year how reliant we are on the efficient running of the agricultural supply chain and how crucial changes will be in ensuring that the sector plays its part in delivering responsible consumption and production. Agri-EPI’s innovation week is a not-to-be-missed event for businesses throughout the supply chain who are looking to invest in and accelerate their innovation.”

All webinars are free to attend. For more information and to sign up, please visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/agri-epi-centre-innovation-week-tickets-147551631903.