“Extreme events over recent years have brought the recognition that if you want to stay in business, you need to be open to change. All the companies in this year’s REAP Start-Up Showcase were addressing a real-world problem that is becoming more urgent – but they are also viewing the challenge through a different lens, and this brings hope,” says Dr Belinda Clarke, Director of Agri-TechE.
She comments that it was noticeable this year that farmers are working closely with innovators to co-develop farm-ready technologies: “The rising cost of labour and inputs based on fossil fuels are driving innovations that will reshape the sector.”
The Start-Up Showcase included innovations for: benchmarking progress towards sustainability metrics; improving soil health through real-time monitoring of soil nitrogen and biological activity; increasing the immune response of plants to pathogens; smart automation for asparagus farmers; support for precision livestock production; and a new high-value crop for vertical farms.
A further driver for innovation is new legislation that came into force this year. It requires larger organisations within the agri-food sector (and others) to show how they are measuring and reducing their Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the goals of the international Paris Agreement.
This is creating a new dialogue around regenerative farming, and for the first time this year REAP featured a Supply Chain Panel of sustainability managers from AM Fresh, Diageo and Tesco. They discussed creating new collaborations within the agri-food sector around a common need to reduce negative environmental impacts whilst improving food security.
David Exwood, livestock farmer and NFU Vice-President, said in his keynote address that although farmers have been considered the problem for many years: “We are starting to turn a corner where we are part of the solution. For example, precision livestock production will enable us to improve the consistency of the delivered product while reducing waste in the system. There is also potential to create a byproduct to replace inorganic fertilisers and generate a biofuel.”
‘Measure to manage’ is vital for both corporates and farmers, and there is a global market opportunity if UK agri-tech can provide improved metrics for monitoring environmental factors.
Professor Gideon Henderson, Chief Scientific Adviser for Defra, also spoke in the keynote session at REAP 2023. He comments:
“Improved measurement and monitoring will enhance the data-driven management of soil and plant health. The second call for the Defra-UKRI Innovation in Environmental Monitoring Programme is planned for this winter and will be a business-led opportunity to support the development of new sensing systems and monitoring capabilities.
“As the science and technologies presented at REAP today have shown, there is a wealth of innovation in agri-tech. This funding opportunity from Defra and Innovate UK, which looks to improve monitoring of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, soil health, and water quality across sectors, will help to catalyse the co-development of the farm-ready solutions that are so urgently needed.”
The REAP 2023 Start-up Showcase line-up featured:
Agtelligence to provide financial institutes with a ‘sustainability rating’ for arable land
Providing evidence of best environmental practice ‘when the computer decides’ is currently difficult to do for farmers. A new tool, ‘FarmScore’ from Agtelligence, aims to distil this complexity into a simple score that can be used by banks, financial institutes, and funding agencies to quickly benchmark progress against sustainability metrics.
PlentySense offers real-time monitoring of soil nitrogen availability under growing crops
Around 50 percent of nitrogen (N) applied to crops is not taken up and can leach into the environment. Now sensors developed by PlentySense, a spinout from John Innes Centre, can measure the amount of nitrate taken up by the crop and the reserve available in the soil, thereby optimising fertiliser usage.
PES Technologies uses an electronic nose to measure biological soil health
An electronic nose to sniff out soil health that will deliver results to a farmer’s phone in five minutes is being developed by PES Technologies. The company is able to create an aroma fingerprint from gas released by microbes in the soil. These organisms are essential for breaking down organic matter and making nutrients available to plants, but current biological lab tests are expensive and take ten weeks to provide results.
Resurrect Bio changes the code to unlock plant defences
Plants have a sophisticated immune system that has co-evolved as a defence against pathogens, but it may be lying inactive in many crop varieties. Now Resurrect Bio, a spin-out from The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) in Norwich, has found a way to re-engineer the disease response mechanism in plants to restore resilience.
Autopickr presents Gus, its adaptable asparagus harvester
“Shortage of labour is forcing smaller asparagus growers out of business, so they ask us three things: how much does our robot harvester cost, does it work and is it reliable?” explains Robyn Sands, Co-founder and CEO of Autopickr, the developer of Gus, an affordable, robust robot for field and undercover operations. Designed to solve a major challenge for the industry, it also offers potential to extend the harvesting season and shelf-life of this high-value crop.
HerdVision brings body condition scoring to DairyComp
HerdVision, a robust camera system for objective body condition and mobility scoring, will soon be integrated into the dairy management software system DairyComp, enabling real-time health updates each time a cow exits the parlour, and supporting precision livestock production.
HotHouse Therapeutics uses a plant factory to mass produce rare medicinal drugs
Some of the most potent drugs known to mankind are produced by plants, but issues such as accessing source material from rare plants and modifying the complex chemicals have meant they have been largely abandoned by the drug discovery industry. This challenge has been overcome by HotHouse Therapeutics’ technology, which enables any naturally occurring medicinal compound to be reproduced by a host plant, creating a high value crop for Controlled Environment Agriculture.
Other solutions featured at the 2023 REAP Conference include:
FOLIUM Science rebalancing the microbiome to improve health without antibiotics
Improving gut health in animal production could significantly boost wellbeing and productivity. FOLIUM Science has developed Guided Biotics® a technology that makes pathogenic bacteria less aggressive and restores the balance in the microbiome. The company has recently gained Innovate UK funding to tackle the bacteria responsible for excessive ammonia production in the poultry house. The plan for the future is to support the bird’s metabolism to become more efficient at repurposing this nitrogen into protein.
EcoNomad Solutions transforming farm waste into energy and fertiliser
The BioNomad™ is an innovative micro-scale solution that can turn livestock waste into valuable resources. The anaerobic digestion process enables farmers to capture and extract valuable biogas from slurry/manure to generate clean renewable electricity and heat. At the same time, the liquid slurry is transformed into a high-quality biofertiliser that can be used to enrich compost heaps, enhance soil health, and improve crop yields.
About Agri-TechE
Agri-TechE is a business focused membership organisation that supports the growth of a world-leading network of innovative farmers, producers, scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs who share a vision of increasing the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of agriculture.
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