Over the last decade, society has seen rapid technological changes. In the world of agriculture, such developments are at the crest of a new wave of ‘Agri-tech’ aiming to drive profitability within the agricultural sector. 

However, as with all new developments, there are many barriers and obstructions to the uptake of new technology within the sector – some practical, some technical. Below, we talk through some of the biggest innovations, issues with their uptake, and how to mitigate those issues.

Aims

At its core, agri-tech aims to streamline the running of a farm. This might be through improving the use of fertiliser, reducing manpower costs through automation or improving the farm’s ecological impacts (reducing exposure to tariffs, and potential fines). While not every innovation will be suitable for every organisation, agri-tech offers a key way to remain competitive in a shifting market facing pressure and competition.

Take-up

There has been slow take-up of agri-tech developments; according to a recent survey by NFU Mutual only 14% of farmers are planning to invest in agri-tech in 2022. This is not surprising – Brexit and supply chain concerns have caused issues for numerous areas of the economy, including agriculture, leaving less room for investment. 

However, poor uptake also appears due to a lack of awareness of potential for growth within the sector, with around half of surveyed farmers feeling held back by lack of knowledge. More awareness of both the types of agri-tech and of funding available will be key to adapting to challenges.

Recent developments

We discuss four of the most applicable and significant technologies in this sector as an example of what kinds of benefits and advancements agri-tech can represent:

Self-driving vehicles

Self-driving vehicles have been gathering speed in development, and are likely to revolutionise vehicle use across the economy. Farming in particular offers specific opportunities, due to the amount of information that can feed into tractor use and in turn lead to more efficient use of fertilisers or crop treatments – for example by more efficient route planning, or automatically accounting for changes in elevation. 

Farming Online has previously reported on a model by John Deere capable of automation, remote monitoring, and notifications for unusual events. Self-driving vehicles are likely to be restricted to use on private land only in the near future. Farming will therefore represent an ideal situation to target experimentation, development and investment in this field.

Autonomous non-vehicle units

In addition to more traditional vehicles, the market is also seeing the rise of smaller autonomous units. One such innovator is the Small Robot Company, featuring three models: a) ‘Tom’, designed for autonomous monitoring, including weeds, herbicide efficiency and emergence data; b) ‘Dick’, using information provided by Tom to autonomously extract weeds from the soil (of particular use where weeds would otherwise be chemical resistant); and c) ‘Harry’, able to accurately record the location of and plant seeds. All three models will then feed data into a central program ‘Wilma’ to provide the farmer with an unprecedented amount of data. This level of precision farming will no doubt in the future become the norm rather than the exception.

Rapid Cycle Breeding

Selective plant breeding for a better crop is well-established. However, it can also be slow and resource intensive. Machine learning can be used to speed up the process, by rapidly selecting specimens with the desired traits. Over the next few years, the industry may start to see the introduction of a much larger number of ‘designer strains’ of crops targeted for specific purposes/soil conditions as their development time is shortened using machine learning.

Alternative Fuels

As society pushes towards greener technology, farm machinery will also face a necessary push to become greener. Some advances have already been made, including the use of biogas from on-farm anaerobic digestion (AD) plants. As battery technology improves, farms are likely to represent an ideal use case, with most vehicles being used often and for significant durations, but within a short distance of the farm centre (allowing easy charging or battery swapping). As carbon restrictions increase, and battery technology improves, this will become a good for farm machinery.

Implementation issues

As we have observed, the adoption and implementation of agri-tech faces two key obstacles – awareness and funding. However, there are various tools and knowledge sources available to help tackle both of these.

Awareness

Farmers need to be aware of upcoming innovations to consider applicability for their own sites – a key solution may already be on the market, but has no value if you don’t know about it. However, innovation and research always carries risk and potential for failure, which can understandably deter businesses. 

A variety of organisations exist to support the sector, drive research and innovation, and take on some financial risk. One of the most significant is the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), which is at the forefront of a large amount of research within the sector. The AHDB makes many of its results available, including for example:

• How best to respond to costly fertiliser nitrogen for use in 2022
• A review of evidence for the uptake of integrated pest management in UK arable rotations
• Recommended lists for cereals and oilseeds for the next five years

It also provides a number of tools based around the data and expertise it has collected, including:

• Calculators for the costs of full production or specific machinery
• Carbon footprinting calculation
• A variety selection tool for a number of common crops

However the most valuable data comes from the use of technology which can then help to strengthen its value proposition and reassure the industry that the technology is successful and proven.

Funding

Upfront investment costs can be a hurdle for the uptake of technology in this sector which is already under significant pressure financially, especially in the wake of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. 

Funding is available and Defra offers a wealth of guidance about the various schemes it operates. On the other hand, private organisation events and publications such as H&H’s recent land grants scheme webinar (mentioned here on Farming Online) offer a vital method for learning how to handle applications and optimise any opportunities.

Nonetheless, perhaps greater funding is needed coupled with agri-tech companies ensuring pricing models and tariffs are appropriate to encourage initial uptake. 

Conclusions

As the market faces unusual pressures, and the economy faces wider uncertainty, agri-tech is more important than ever for farming organisations; this trend will likely continue as further regulations such as carbon emission restrictions become more restrictive in society as a whole. Research suggests the farming industry is open to technology transformation but hurdles such as funding, fear of failure in the tech, a lack of awareness of the technology solutions available and a demonstrated value proposition create challenges for the industry. While organisations exist to support innovation and provide information, perhaps more funding is needed to support initial trials and beta testing to give the industry reassurance in the technology while tech companies can collect greater data sets to demonstrate success on a wider scale.

Suzie Miles is a Partner in Ashfords LLP’s Commercial Technology team. If you have any queries about the topics raised in this article, she can be reached at s.miles@ashfords.co.uk.