VIDEO: Agri Innovation Den finalists take to the floor to pitch for investment

Co-founders Paul, James and Andrew Wright use insects to extract nutrition from food which is unsuitable for consumption and would otherwise end up in landfill or anaerobic digestion.

The trio have engineered, procured, constructed and commissioned an insect farm capable of producing 35 tonnes of insects per annum, which can be fed to livestock as an alternative source of protein.

Paul says the value of fish meal has increased three-fold in the last decade and insect protein can replace it. Insect protein has a better food conversion ratio per kg than pig, poultry and beef production and makes use of low-value foodstuffs, turning them into a useful product. The fats from insects can also replace soy, palm and other vegetable oils found in swine and poultry feeds.

What the judges said? "This is a truly innovative approach to the global protein shortage. The team has demonstrated the technology can work but there is some way to go in showing this can be done at scale in a way that will bring the cost down. While there was some concern consumers might not yet be ready to accept this solution in the food chain that will surely come with time.”

As a technology provider, co-founder Charles Veys and his team are looking to empower the latest farm machinery by providing insight into the crop status. For example, a FOTENIX enabled sprayer would automate variable application of chemical inputs, to maximise efficacy and reduce residual build-up. They are able to do this thanks to a camera method, often used in laboratories where samples are sent for analysis, now they have made it small and efficient enough to go in field. Co-founder Charles Veys is also currently exploring other uses for the system, such as yield analysis and are looking to develop partners and field trials over the next year.

What the judges said: “Using multi spectral photography Fotenix promises to able to identify in real time plant disease and ripeness. The three dimensional capabilities of the technology are a real game changer. We want to see how the dictionary of plants could be built and to see how the interpretive capabilities of the software would work beyond the proof of concept example shown in the presentation.”

This precision engineering and data intelligence company, aims to empower the livestock industry to run sustainable and efficient production systems.

With a focus on animal health, fertility and farm operations, Smartbell monitors the herd, infrastructure and environment to send prioritised alerts to help farmers and their service providers to improve their management of these areas. To the farmer, the product offered is a simple wearable device for the animal that provides alerts for pre-defined conditions. For an advanced service contract, suitable for large farms, aggregate reports, best practices and regional metrics are available.

What the judges said: “When livestock farmers are under tremendous margin pressure this approach has the makings of something that could really make a difference. The opportunity to aggregate this data to produce benchmark statistics is really exciting. All this business needs now is a collection of compelling case studies to prove the value to livestock farmers.”