Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department is providing to Harper Adams University to research the potential merits of automated farms.
Answer
Defra has developed an ambitious R&D package for England which will enable more farmers and agri-food businesses to become involved in agricultural R&D.
The Government's £90 million investment in the 'Transforming Food Production' (TFP) challenge, launched by UK Research and Innovation in 2018, is already supporting ground-breaking research and development to boost productivity and encourage technological advances. The Farming Innovation Programme was launched in October 2021 to build on this effort. The programme is made up of three separate but complementary funds, that will pull through innovation in different areas, from small farmer-led innovative research projects to larger industrial R&D projects that can transform the sector.
Harper Adams, in collaboration with Precision Decisions Ltd Agri-Epi Centre, was awarded a £1,577,964 grant through the TFP to support their Hands-Free Farm project. This seeks to operate a farm autonomously, whilst developing robotic skills and technology. Oats, wheat and beans were all successfully harvested autonomously in the last season. Through TFP, Harper Adams is also involved in the Dairyvision project which looks to develop autonomous monitoring and management of dairy cows to optimise their welfare and productivity.
As announced in December 2020, Defra has undertaken a review of automation in horticulture during 2021, covering both the edible and ornamental sectors in England. It is due to be published later in 2022. Defra Ministers engage and visit Harper Adams regularly.