Sustainable farming systems in Telford and Wrekin

Sector and market opportunity

Sustainable farming is playing a key role in improving the efficiency of crop growing and livestock raising. Telford and Wrekin has the infrastructure and capabilities to develop new agri-tech solutions to enable sustainable food production across the globe.

The use of precision agriculture technologies will allow future farmers to make more efficient and informed decisions on crop, animal husbandry, and farm management. This is underpinned by breakthroughs in:

• nutrition
• genetics
• informatics and big data
• remote sensing engineering
• robotics
• meteorology
• other technologies

Many companies can benefit from these opportunities, especially those involved in markets such as:

• soil and nutrient mapping
• automation of field operations like drilling
• spraying
• harvesting
• yield prediction

Growth prospects

The UK agri-food sector is worth £125 billion annually. It creates a clear pipeline of sustainable agri-tech projects for national and international markets.

Location

Telford and Wrekin provides a gateway opportunity for the design, build, testing and operation of agri-technologies. With 10% of England’s farmland area and a high agricultural gross value added (GVA), it’s an ideal place to test technology in a farm environment.

The West Midlands is part of an end-to-end food supply chain, with farmers supplying to 350 food and 120 beverage manufacturing firms in the region.

The region has a vibrant cluster of innovative SMEs and national food production firms including Kuhn, Cargill, Saputa, and Agricultural Magnetics.

Connectivity

Telford and Wrekin’s central location ensures a competitive advantage in the area of physical distribution with more than 5,000 companies located in the borough. There is access to superfast broadband, and strong connections to supply chains.

The Telford international Rail Freight Terminal has direct links to the national rail network, major seaports, and key locations in Europe.

There is quick rail access to major cities such as London (2 hours 10 minutes), Birmingham (45 minutes), and Manchester (2 hours 20 minutes).

Local talent and skills

There are 475,000 jobs in the UK agriculture sector, and 45,000 engineering professionals in the West Midlands.

Harper Adams University (HAU) is the largest specialist university in agricultural engineering in the UK and home to the National Centre for Precision Farming (NCPF). It conducts world-leading research and partners with businesses and universities in both crop and livestock production.

The Agricultural Engineering Precision and Innovation (Agri-Epi) Centre is also based at Harper Adams University. Its core partners include:

• Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)
• Cranfield University
• Harbro Ltd
• Ag Space Agriculture Ltd
• Kingshay Farming

A further 130 companies are members of the Centre including large supermarkets, food producers, farmers, processors, and engineering and technology businesses.

Research and expertise

Telford and Wrekin is home to Ni.PARK - a new industrial innovation park solely for agri-tech companies. It offers incubation space and high specification manufacturing and research units.

The ‘Hands Free Farm’ is a collaborative research project between academia and industry, located at HAU’s own farm. It was the first venue in the world to plant, tend, and harvest crops using only autonomous vehicles and drones. The project has grown from 1 hectare in 2017 to 35 hectares and 5 fields in 2021. A fleet of autonomous small vehicles are operated from the farm office, ready for commercialisation.

The new Agri-EPI Centre building at HAU is designed to accommodate research and development projects ranging from traditional engineering to robotics, automation, laser technology, sensor development, and software development.

Enabling clean growth

There is a clear need to develop farm productivity and profitability in the future, due to:

• anticipated population growth over the next 30 years
• increasing urbanisation
• changing dietary habits
• the challenge of more volatile climatic conditions
• stalling outputs in some areas of agricultural production

Advanced technologies such as those being developed in Telford and Wrekin can improve food production while reducing the environmental impact of farming.

Local and national government support

The UK government has committed to being at the forefront of the global move to high-efficiency and sustainable agriculture.

Local partners offer development-ready land deals, innovation support, and collaboration and partnership opportunities with a rich network of local agri-tech enterprises.

Success stories

GrowUp

GrowUp is at the forefront of Controlled Environment Production (CEP) research. CEP will play a key role in transforming UK agriculture by reducing environmental impacts and strengthening our resilience to climate change.

It is based at the Agri-EPI Centre at Harper Adams University and produces food with:

• 95% less water

• 77% less carbon

• 60% less waste

• no pesticides

• zero agricultural runoff

EarthRover

Earth Rover was established in partnership with Harper Adams University and the RAL Space Autonomous Systems Group. It has developed autonomous solar-powered farming robots that adapt to carry precision tools, kill weeds with clean radiant light energy, and integrate with an intelligent data platform.

School for Sustainable Food and Farming

The School for Sustainable Food and Farming is supported by Morrisons, along with co-partners RAFT Solutions Ltd and the NFU. It uses academic and practical expertise, as well as industry networks, to develop knowledge and skills for farmers and related businesses who are committed to reducing the environmental impact of food production.

The school examines the wider aspects of sustainability including biodiversity, animal welfare, green energy production, and farm profitability.

Pickstock

Pickstock Telford is a supplier of quality British beef to international food service professionals, wholesalers and retailers.

To meet its ambition of carbon neutrality by 2030, Pickstock’s Brongain Farm has invested in a rotational grazing platform and aims to produce better quality forage for cattle. It will do this using home-grown protein and better soil and land management that can increase carbon sequestration from the atmosphere.