Ag Tech Investments News

At Harper Adams University, a new innovation hub for agricultural technology is being built and its credit goes to funding from the Government’s Strategy for Agricultural Technologies.

To create a new global centre for agricultural engineering and precision farming, under a partnership deal of industry and academics, including those at Harper Adams, will work together, using £17.5 million of funding over the next four years.

To serve the Agri-EPI Centre project, the Innovation Hub at Harper Adams is being built. And backed by the Government’s Business Innovation and Skills Department, which aims to become a world-leading centre for excellence in engineering and precision agriculture for the livestock, arable, aquaculture and horticulture sectors.

As well as drawing on expertise specific to these sectors the innovative project also involves partners in related industries such as supermarkets and vehicle engineering.

Automated vehicles (drones), new instrumentation to monitor both operations and in-field performance of cropping systems, as well as sensing and imaging technologies to monitor livestock production in areas such as product quality and health, are the cutting edge technologies which are initial areas of interest.

“Through development and uptake of advanced engineering technologies aimed at solving current challenges faced by UK farming, the Agritech Innovation Hub will provide a world-class innovation centre that will underpin an increase in the economic performance and competitiveness of UK farming," said Dr David Llewellyn, Vice-Chancellor.