Our Week in Agri-Tech

In this week's round-up from Agri-TechE:

🥔 Speaking at CUPGRA's 36th Annual Cambridge Potato Conference and attending the gorgeous Potato Barons' Feast - from innovation management for new tech - to identifying country of origin of the celery......by taste!

 💷 Funding for Scaling £100m up for grabs through Innovate UK's new programme.

🤗 Catching up with members Elveden Farms Ltd and Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), and a warm welcome to GoMicro - AI in a box to improve product quality in fresh produce, grain and nuts.

 🚜 Getting ready f...

Duration: 00:03:23

This week’s podcast will reveal…...

 

The value of “nature benefits” in England in 2024 (at £37billion, it’s more than any single manufacturing sector in the UK) and why we should care about the UK’s newly-released Environment Improvement Plan. Plus Agri-TechE’s event on Nature-tech for Profit and Planet in April 2026 at Rothamsted Research in April next year. https://www.agri-tech-e.co.uk/civicrm/event/info/?reset=1&id=27311

 

What delegates REALLY thought of REAP 2025 – and getting next year’s date locked in your diary!

 

Exciting news for those looking to e...

Duration: 00:02:50

What does the UK’s #agritech community hope the Modern Industrial Strategy will deliver on the ground? This week’s Friday round-up comes from  @syngenta 's global R&D HQ, where we debated four potential pillars of growth – investment, scaling, partnerships and exporting.

Huge thanks to Gardin, RootWave, Tropic and AgriSound for candid sharing of the importance of these pillars for the growth of their businesses. Throw in a site tour, meeting the next generation of #robodogs for crop scouting, and a scene-set from George Freeman who – in this week of the UK Budget - stands ready to s...

Duration: 00:01:14

From AI (in all its definitions) and IOT via the “AKIS” and learning from the Irish and New Zealand agri-food systems – with some big thoughts on UK horticulture.

This week we discovered:

The power of AI in distilling complex content – Burleigh Dodds commissions publications from world experts on topics around agri-food, including regenerative agriculture. Their AgNetZero platform enables a quality referenced interrogation across all their content. You can have a 30 day free trial to have a play.

The key elements of an effective Agriculture Knowledge Innovation System, at a workshop run by A...

Duration: 00:04:53

Closing the week where we’ve seen the REAP2025 conference and the community come together around the 30:50:50 Summit for innovation in agriculture – our industry is only heading one way. And we ALL need to be part of the change.

Big love to everyone who was part of the REAP conference, one of our favourite reflections in the feedback was the noticeable positivity and “can-do” vibe among the farm businesses, innovators and researchers in the room.

 

Minette Batters DL set the tone for change with her excellent keynote address (there's a hot-off-the-press story abo...

Duration: 00:03:47

We're so busy in the Agri-TechE team, this week's vlog was recorded on my way to the car from the office! We're in great shape for REAP Conference next week, last chance to register!

In other news:

💻 The Agri-Tech Week event blogs are coming in and we have a short (but snazzy) video summarising the Week's events.

🛰️ Giving a talk about the state of global agritech to the team at Lacuna Space - with some great questions and discussions about the state of soils, investor trends, the role of regulati...

Duration: 00:01:20

Welcome to our latest new member Field Zero – putting farmers' needs at the heart of the innovation and discovery process (and well done for your dedication to #ATW2025!)

Plus the latest Agri-TechE newsletter landed this week, (with our latest new blog - "Is scaling is ever plain-sailing in #agritech?").

 

Plus excellent member meetings this week with Delytics Ltd; Prime Agriculture Llp; G's Group Fresh, AF (The AF Group); The Crown Estate and the John Innes Centre.

 

Thank you again to #ATW2025 partners THE MORLEY AGRICULTURAL FOUNDATION, Norwich Research Park, Pixa...

Duration: 00:03:33

How do we feel about an EU-wide framework for assessing and monitoring soils? The Council of the EU has just formally adopted a Soil Monitoring Directive, with the aim of achieving “healthy soils across Europe by 2050.” (As someone recently pointed out, 2050 will be quite the watershed year, if the many MANY aspirations are indeed achieved by then 🙂).

 

Anyway – given the challenge the UK has had trying to untangle the whole “healthy soils” agenda, let’s hope the EU can crack it. What do you think?

 

In other news:

 

On Monday we’re...

Duration: 00:02:36

Friday round up from Agri-TechE is in London – this week's vlog features a re-boot of some of our activities, a host of meetings and a reminder to book your hashtag#REAP2025 and hashtag#ATW2025 tickets!

In summary:

🤝 Meeting the (very) Great and (very) Good members of the esteemed Agricultural Forum to talk all things agri-tech.

💡 An Agricultural Productivity Group meeting, excellent chairing by David Exwood and meeting his new co-chair Rachel Bailey, who will be leading agri-growth, technology and trade within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Af...

Duration: 00:03:53

A sugar-y Friday round up from Agri-TechE, with new innovations for sugar beet production, a new policy report with all you need to know about the UK agri-food system, and welcoming two of our latest new members.

 Great catch-up with Germains Seed Technology around beneficial microbes and nutrient-rich seed coatings for sugar beet and spinach seeds - and more!

 A new report on the Future of the UK Food System by our members GK Strategy - read this and you will discover all you need to know (and we got a mention as well!). https://bit.ly...

Duration: 00:03:05

Defence and agri-tech – shared innovations and opportunities and challenges with UK Food Valley with Lincolnshire County Council.

🌏 A great meeting with the leaders from the @Beijing Vocational College of Agriculture – a real meeting of minds!

🌿 Agreeing vehemently with CropLife UK around the regulatory environment for crop solutions

👋 Welcome to some of our latest new members:

Pangaea Biosciences (overcoming resistance to pesticides and reducing the need for surfactants)

The Fresh Partnership – expert advice to develop agri-food supply chains

OptiGene – detecting bacteria and viruses attacking crops a...

Duration: 00:03:12

🍀 Learning how the number of tiny pores on the surface of leaves might help build drought resilience. A great day at Niab's East Malling site, hearing about the research underway into soft fruit and top fruit.

🥂 Delighting in being the UK partner for the next generation of the H.A.R.V.E.S.T. AgTech programme, - part of the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) - with The Yield Lab Institute in St. Louis, Missouri and other international ecosystem partners.

🤐 Chairing an expert panel to discuss "Innovating towards the next agricultural revolution."

...

Duration: 00:03:41

Welcome to the first podcast version of our weekly agri-tech roundup.

This week.........

🌍 Presenting at the Delta-T Devices Global Distributor Conference.

💸 Being inspired at our Focus on Finance event - and discovering there is around €414Bn in "dry powder" (uninvested funds) across Europe, and hearing from 15 fantastic hashtag#agritech start-ups. Thank you to our event sponsor Innovate UK and our exhibitors.

📅 Announcing the line-up for hashtag#AgriTechWeek2025 - it's our biggest one yet - October 20th-24th!

🛫 Going "Round the World" to Australia with AgriFutures growAG on Mond...

Duration: 00:03:01