NFU Cymru President Aled Jones chaired the session on ‘Science and technology to grow’ and opened by saying that agriculture in this country has a proud tradition of innovation, but that much of our ability to create value lies in others’ hands.
He added that it was our responsibility to ensure that the ‘Henrys and Henriettas’ of the future can come into the industry to provide food for the future.
Professor Michael Lee, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Harper Adams University and Phil Bicknell, CEO, UK Agri-Tech Centre, led the debate on how science and technology are helping to improve farmers’ productivity, animal welfare and profits.
Farmers at the forefront of innovation
Former NFU head of food and farming and chief economist, Phil said that farmers were accused of being slow adopters of technology but that they had a history of taking up new inventions going back thousands of years.
“Take sexed semen, it’s use has gone from single figures use to 90% in less than a decade. If something works, and it delivers then we will put the science into practice and very quickly it becomes part of the furniture for farming,” he added.
Prof Lee said that this was an exciting time to be involved in agricultural technology, but he emphasised the need to address the skills gap in order to take advantage its potential.
Technologies revolutionising agriculture
Michael said: “Robotics and AI are revolutionising the agricultural industry. These technologies can accomplish tasks such as planting, harvesting, weeding, and spraying, reducing the need for manual labour and increasing productivity.
“With AI-driven monitoring and scouting, farmers can gain real-time insights into crop health and soil conditions. Irrigation and fertilising resources are better managed, ensuring efficiency. AI tools can help with sorting, pruning, and disease detection to maintain healthy crops.
“Robotics and AI further enhance precision, tracking, and yield optimisation, enabling smarter and more sustainable farming practices. These technologies are revolutionising agriculture in much the same way the tractor did almost 100 years ago, or the GNSS antenna in the 1980s. We are now witnessing a new technological revolution in the farming industry, one driven by data and systems whose full potential we have yet to fully realise.”
Improving systems for sustainable production
He outlined a number of ways that Harper Adams was working towards the future, including starting up the School for Sustainable Food and Farming. He said that improving the flow of data across farms was key and that the Sustainable Farm Network was the ‘gossamer thread’ of connection between the vital demonstration farms to share data.
The university is working on projects such as vine weevil traps, metabolomics to predict disease in cows, and is collaborating with Warwick University on its pre-breeding vegetable research project, VeGin.
They are also developing a system to harvest phosphorus from slurry – reducing its storage volume by 40%. Michael added: “It is critical that we turn our slurries into brown gold, we need to stop mining the deserts for phosphorus and start mining the backs of cows.”
“We are now witnessing a new technological revolution in the farming industry, one driven by data and systems whose full potential we have yet to fully realise.”
Professor Michael Lee, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Harper Adams University
Phil said that technology was not ‘just about drones’ and encompassed different farming practices and the penny had dropped for him following 40% falls in fodder yields on his family farm following the ‘Beast from the East’. A visit to a windswept Cumbrian demonstration hill farm, whose grass yields were much higher, prompted him to look at Agri-Tech to improve his business.
Phil told delegates that Agri-Tech provided facilities for test and trial work to help small firms develop innovative solutions, which helped them find vital finance to bring their products to market.
Both agreed that precision breeding was key to speeding up the innovation process, which was key to attracting outside investors into agriculture. Michael added that it can take 10-15 years for a beneficial genetic trait to be introduced into livestock and precision breeding could get that timeframe down to one year.
Agri-Tech has worked with dairy technician, Anthony Marsh, to access funding to develop Hoofcount – a footbath, camera and AI welfare solution to early identification of lameness. It won the innovation award at Dairy Tech earlier in February.
Robots providing quick wins
Labour shortages are the impetus behind a lot of robotic work, “if you can not harvest your work, you haven’t got a business,” added Phil. Agri-tech has worked with all-terrain robot manufacturers, Antobot. Initially focusing on harvesting, the firm has found quick wins with future yield forecasting to improve the supply chain and cut down on waste. Now it is working on using UV light to reduce the use of chemicals in fields.
Aled asked about developing better communications with the public to avoid situations like ‘the Bovaer debacle’ in the future. Both Michael and Phil agreed that it was important to engage with the public.
Michael said: “We have got to be aware of social licence, the narrative is critical, and we need to have a better dialogue with the consumer. But the industry needs to unite as a farming community and recognise that different sectors need different technologies.”
Meet the speakers from this session
Professor Michael Lee
Deputy Vice Chancellor, Harper Adams University
He is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Harper Adams University, England’s Premier specialist agriculture and land use University.
Phil Bicknell
CEO, UK Agri-Tech Centre
Prior to the UK Agri-Tech Centre, Phil has had a varied career across food and farming: he led the 50-strong market intelligence team at AHDB (Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board), equipping farmers and processors with the insight to manage market volatility, profitability and policy change; he was also chief economist at the NFU, spearheading the evidence to support a range of lobbying activity.
Other roles include specialising in agri-trade issues at the US Department of Agriculture and advising a range of agribusiness clients with Bidwells.
Phil grew up on the family livestock farm has a degree in agricultural economics.
Aled Jones
NFU Cymru President
Aled has previously held a variety of positions across the industry, including holding the post of Chairman of milk recording company Cattle Information Services (CIS) for seven years and being a trustee of Holstein UK for eight years.
