Technology led by farmer innovation
With the use of technology in agriculture growing considerably, we explore how innovation is now being driven by farmers to address certain problem areas
The last few years has seen a growing conversation about the use of technology in farming. Reports suggest UK agritech is worth around £14bn, employing half a million people. From phone apps recording data about livestock to GPS tractor systems and robotic fruit pickers – the agritech scope is endless.
There are more than 1,000 agritech companies in the UK, many classed as startups, looking at solutions to ensure farming has its place in making the country more food sustainable and environmentally friendly. Such is the interest, it has attracted funding and grant schemes aimed at companies that develop and implement new technology.
However, there is now a movement towards farmer-led innovation, which Tom Macmillan, Professor of Rural Policy and Strategy at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) argues has been the way for centuries.
For as long as there has been agriculture there have been people, including farmers, trying new things and trialling new types of technology. That is how it has always been
He is seeing a shift from mass-produced products with a ‘one size fits all’ approach to particular problem areas on farms being turned to the landowner’s advantage, with the help of technology and data.
“This focus on understanding context in farming, customising solutions and harnessing the environment around farms, is growing,” he explains. “What we’re seeing now is more people right across the industry – farmers, advisers – think about the whole farming system, the ecology and how to make the most of the differences on the farm. How to turn what might previously have been a problem to their advantage and how different parts of the farming system interact with one another. That can lead to innovative ways of doing things.”
Previously, scientists and companies developed products to sell to farmers. The RAU is now looking at the farmer as the innovator. Tom says: “One of the areas we’re focused on at the RAU is supporting farmer-led innovation. It is about seeing farmers as innovators, not just customers for technology. Research can boost the rigour of the kinds of trials and data analysis that farmers are interested in doing and help reach more confident conclusions on what works.”
Farmer-led innovation
Jack Wrangham grew up on the family farm in Alnwick, Northumberland, but it was when he returned in 2014 that he started to think about how drone technology could work on it. The following year, he set up DroneAg, which at that time provided specialist drone equipment to farming companies, and as technology has moved on, he has reshaped the business to meet the needs of farmers as they arise.
He developed Skippy Scout, an app that can fly a drone over fields, gather data and images and return information back to the farmer or agronomist within 15 minutes about crop cover, health and disease and recommendations for treatment. Skippy Scout is now sold in 19 countries, with customers in Australia, Israel, Canada, Spain, Poland and North America; however, 70% of the market is in the UK.
“Information is real time – they are making decisions about treatments that day. Walking that field would take a lot longer – they wouldn’t be able to analyse it,” says Jack. The other advantage is that information is objective rather than subjective. “Farmers and agronomists look by eye and not data imagery. They are not basing their decisions on all that real information.”
However, he says there are still barriers to technology not being used on farms as it is segmented and doesn’t link up. “The model strategy for us is all about integration,” he says. Jack is looking to an ideal scenario where the drone will be based in a station, carry out a flight and go back to the dock to recharge.
“The farmer or agronomist is not aware the drone has done a flight until they get the data back,” he says. “As soon as you can fly autonomously, that turns into integration and it is a stage further on again.”
He believes technology like this can solve other issues facing the farming industry. “You remove the need for labour, which is a problem in farming, especially in fruit and vegetable farming where they can’t find staff. You are upscaling where you do need people doing more technical jobs. You will always need agronomists to interpret the data, but they don’t have to spend 90% of their time walking fields, they can spend that time telling people what to do.
“We are at the very beginning of getting the pieces together to start to move towards that. We need to be using fewer chemicals, damaging less soil, growing more food and feeding more people; technology will help solve these issues.”
Holistic technology
CLA member Jo Hilditch has always been an early-adopter of new technology trends and is the fourth generation at the helm of Whittern Farms, between Hereford and the Welsh Borders. As well as growing fruit and crops, the main part of the estate business is rearing chickens for supermarkets.
Previously, the 6,000 tonnes of chicken manure generated each year by the birds was spread on land in the local area, or more latterly, went by lorry to plants on the other side of the country. That didn’t sit right with Jo, and nor did the concept of chopping down trees to fire the farm’s nine biomass boilers used to heat the chickens. In 2020, the farm invested £3m in three large chicken litter burners that use a technology not commonly used in the UK.
“It seemed strange to chop trees down and burn them to heat the chickens,” Jo says. “The second issue I saw coming was that the tide seemed to be turning against the farmers where it was felt chicken litter was going to somehow end up in the River Wye. Many river groups seemed to be unreasonably blaming farmers, but if there was something I might be able to do to help alleviate that situation, I would be doing the right thing.”
Every eight weeks, 600,000 birds, 180,000 birds from each of the farm’s three sites, are sent to be processed. The 200 tonnes of litter they have produced is burnt at around 650 degrees and converted to heat through a heat exchanger, providing enough warmth to rear the next generation of chickens.
The 600 tonnes of grey phosphate-rich ash left over each year is then granulated by Recycled Nutrients and used on farms in the eastern counties of England where it is needed. “We use all the litter that we generate,” says Jo. “They sit on it for six weeks at a time and when they have finished it does not have to be driven miles across the country. It goes over the wall and straight into the boilers. It is beautifully holistic.”
In addition, rather than someone having to monitor the old boilers in person, 24 hours a day, the new technology allows them to be remotely managed from Ireland, where the installation company is based. It is also saving £600,000 a year on oil or gas to heat the chickens.
However, Jo says the costs involved are a barrier to more farms adopting similar systems, unless there are grants available – Jo’s business model is predicated on the funding she receives for every kWh of heat produced.
“It is not without its problems, but it has been excellent as far as doing what we set out to,” Jo concludes.
It is about making your farm more effective. Innovation is always driven by economy. But if you don’t try, you don’t know