Agri-TechE REAP Conference ‘Adaptation through innovation; beyond the comfort zone’ – 8th November 2023, Newmarket, UK

Increasingly frequent ‘extreme’ events create a challenge but also an opportunity for agriculture if science can keep pace and answer the questions arising from farmers. The Agri-TechE REAP conference, now in its tenth year, provides a forum for accelerating innovation in agri-tech. Keynote speakers Professor Gideon Henderson, Defra Chief Scientific Adviser, and David Exwood, livestock farmer and NFU Vice President, will create a context for discussions in this interactive event, which also features emerging agri-tech and a start-up showcase.

Professor Gideon Henderson, Defra Chief Scientific Adviser, will be framing the direction of travel for agricultural science and discussing the challenge of balancing net zero and biodiversity with food production.

Livestock farmer and NFU Vice President David Exwood will join him and comments: “I think as challenging and uncertain as things are for farmers at the moment, these times are equally exciting and full of possibility.”

Dr Belinda Clarke is Director of Agri-TechE, a membership organisation that supports innovation in agricultural technologies. She comments: “The world is no longer the same shape as it was five years ago. Major geopolitical and socioeconomic disruptions, as well as extreme weather events, are creating a confluence of crises.

“All living things – us humans included – like to maintain equilibrium by making minor adjustments to stay within a comfort zone, but this is increasingly challenging and can induce a feeling of panic! At REAP 2023 we are going beyond the comfort zone and exploring the potential of the ‘stretch zone’, where the opportunity for greatest innovation and growth exists. We will look at the positive developments across science, technology, farming practice and the value chain that will enable sustainable, profitable agricultural production.”

Professor Gideon Henderson became Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser in October 2019, (he is a Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford). He is responsible for ensuring that Defra’s policymaking and delivery is informed by the best possible science and innovation, across the full range of the Department’s environmental and agricultural responsibilities.

Before his appointment to Defra, Professor Henderson’s research included the viability of routes to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and he led the Royal Society Report on Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR), published in 2018.

Its recommendations included demonstration projects of land based GGR approaches, and developing techniques for monitoring and measurement that would enable verification and validation of the emerging approaches for GGR. Prof Henderson comments that such science-based verification of environmental outcomes are equally important across many areas of government agriculture and environmental policy.

He says: “I see it as a two-way conversation: science is offering new options and opportunities for farming, and farmers are asking new questions of science. The activities of organisations like Agri-TechE are very important in supporting this dialogue.

“For example, in terms of soil carbon, we don’t currently have a broad enough range of measurement tools to assess soil carbon content, but we’re improving with some clever innovations in that space. There is hope that we can soon take higher-resolution and more accurate measurements.

“One pressure in our carbon budgets is peat degradation. So much of our Grade 1 agricultural land is peatland, and although we are still at the earlier part of the learning curve than we are with woodlands, we are moving along that curve with farmers.

“The simple statement ‘we want to maintain food production’ is quite a tricky concept. I look forward to hearing discussion about achieving such production in the face of environmental pressures at REAP.”

Agri-TechE’s REAP 2023 conference ‘Adaptation through innovation; beyond the comfort zone’ is to be held on 8^th November 2023 at the Rowley Mile Conference Centre, Newmarket, UK. Find out more at reapconference.co.uk.

Monday

Modern industrial biotechnology explained – plant, insect and other organic materials have the potential to replace chemicals and materials derived from fossil fuels, creating new markets for agricultural production. This emerging industry will be discussed at a free event hosted by the Norwich Research Park.

Heat, water and energy – access to water and affordable energy are particular challenges for horticulture and vegetable production. This free event, hosted by the University of Essex, looks at innovations that may offer a lifeline to this sector.

Tuesday

Integrated pest management in action – IPM Decisions is a new platform that compares the risk posed by pests across different cropping systems offering a new approach to management. Case-studies of IPM Decisions in action and alternative weed control approaches are to be discussed in this free event hosted by ADAS RSK in Cambridge.

Embedding entrepreneurship in research – commercially-driven scientists have a key role in spinning out new companies from research institutes. This event at The Sainsbury Laboratory on the Norwich Research Park explores the success of its Entrepreneur-in-Residence Programme.

Wednesday

REAP conference 2023: Adaptation through innovation; beyond the comfort zone – can agriculture improve its resilience to increasingly frequent ‘extreme’ events and what is the role of science and innovation in creating opportunity out of challenge? Expert speakers drawn from farming and policy, ground-breaking scientists and technology visionaries discuss at Agri-TechE’s REAP conference 2023 at the Rowley Mile Conference Centre, Newmarket.

Thursday

 Gene editing and genetic modification – the recent Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act will enable the development and marketing of gene edited crops in England and is a major step towards modernising our crop breeding. This free event hosted at Rothamsted Research reviews the technology and its potential.

Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association – open day or practical visit, location TBC.

Friday

 Crops to products; building those value-chains – novel crops offer resilience and new market opportunities, recent research programmes have revealed. NIAB will host this exploratory event at Park Farm, Histon.

Digital Dairy Chain knowledge exchange – The Digital Dairy Chain is a UKRI funded project which aims to transform the dairy sector with technologies that connect the whole value chain from grass to glass. SRUC is hosting this online event to introduce the project and its potential.