Showcasing the Future of Farming

Scientists from the University of Lincoln, UK, have been showcasing their research on the future of farming at some of the world’s biggest agri-tech events this month.

Researchers from the Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology are developing new technologies to improve productivity, efficiency and sustainability in farming through pioneering research. In the past month (November 2016) LIATs researchers have exhibited their research, including their Thorvald robot and work to develop new robotic harvesting machines – at the World Agri-Tech Investment Summit in London and the Agri-Tech East REAP Conference 2016 in Cambridge.

Next week they will be at CropTec, the UK’s only arable farming event devoted to technical research and development. These major industry events bring together organisations leading the charge in agri-tech research and development, including giants such as Bayer Crop Science, IBM Research and John Deere.

LIAT researchers have also been putting Lincolnshire on the map representing the “future of farming” internationally as part of the UK Government’s Agri-tech Trade Delegation to India earlier this month. The Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology, based at the University’s Riseholme Campus, is working with farmers across the county to develop new technologies which can underpin the future success of the region’s agriculture industry.

Professor Simon Pearson, Director of the Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology, said: “It’s been a great privilege to showcase on a national and international stage the work we’re doing with farmers and food manufacturers right here in the fields and factories of Lincolnshire. Agri-tech is quickly emerging as one of the most urgent but exciting areas of scientific research in the UK and in Lincolnshire we’re in a prime position to benefit. Through our research, centred on our agricultural field station at Riseholme, we’re aiming to equip farmers with the tools and technologies to flourish in what’s being called new agricultural revolution. The economic case for embracing new innovations in farming only becomes more pressing as Brexit approaches, with all the pressures that will bring to farmers to find efficiencies.”