Agri-tech as a sector is booming, with new thinking and pioneering ideas created from brilliant minds. Momentum is building and there are many organisations putting investment and resources to bring these emerging technologies to life, transforming global and grass-roots farming.

Farming methods have evolved massively over the years, from basic handheld tools to the modern and sophisticated technology used today. Such progression enables farmers to achieve their highest potential, as
business models are becoming more refined, less manual, and better-placed to increase yields.

Louis Wells, BASF solutions and services manager, marketing team, says: “We are all aware there is a broad range of challenges involved in farming, some of which are outside our controls.

However, some new technologies allow more precision and this can help offset some of the risks.”

Sarah Bell, who runs her own consultancy business, S.E. Bell Agri Food, alongside day-to-day involvement with her family’s mixed farm in Rutland, believes technology needs to yield profit as well as results.

She says: “I want to farm profitably and tread lightly. We are regenerative and agriculture-driven in our thought processes, but that has to co-exist with being profitable, the farm working and keeping us.

“Ultimately, as farmers, we take soil, sunlight and rain and convert it into something we can sell. Agri-tech will enable me to use land in the most efficient way by giving me the underlying data to generate information to be very sure about what business case works on individual pieces of land, to make me the money I need to earn.

“If we can do our bit in moving towards a cleaner model of farming that reduces climate impact, by producing animals and crops in the most efficient way with fewer inputs, that is where the productivity gains will come and that is where farming wins kudos with the public.”