RASE Farm of the Future

Using artificial intelligence in livestock farming

For this episode we’re joined by David Speller from OptiFarm, to talk about how artificial intelligence can be used in livestock farming.
During the episode we discuss how artificial intelligence can already be used in livestock farming and how deep learning AI can be used to accelerate agricultural know-how.

Regenerative root crops

For this episode we’re joined by Alastair Leake from the Allerton Project, to talk about regenerative root crops.
Alastair was the winner of the 2023 RASE National Agricultural Award, which was presented in recognition of how he has developed The Allerton Project to demonstrate how farming can deliver food production and environmental outcomes simultaneously.  
During the episode we dig into how root crops can be grown as part of a regenerative system, despite the level of soil disturbance required. 

What does regenerative REALLY mean?

Regenerative farming means different things to different people. For our November 2023 Farm of the Future podcast episode, Deborah Crossan from Innovation for Agriculture and Natasha Smith from RASE spoke to John Cherry, co-founder of Groundswell and a regenerative farmer, to understand his perspective on regenerative agriculture.  
In John’s words, regenerative farming refers to “Any farming system which improves the functionality of any of the systems that we rely on as farmers.”
What do we mean by that? What systems do farmers rely on? And what does regenerative farming look like in practice?  Listen to the episode to hear more.  

Calf rearing, environmental sustainability and business performance

Listen to this episode to hear how calf monitoring technologies can be used to improve calf health and growth rates, impacting both farm profitability and environmental outcomes. 
For this episode, Natasha Smith and Laura Palczynski from Innovation for Agriculture are joined by livestock vet Emily Linton, from Torch Farm Vets and Chris Dorrington from Smartbell. Emily, Chris and Laura are all incredibly passionate about how small tweaks to calf health practices can have a disproportionally large impact on farm businesses as a whole. 
The episode includes insights into how any calf rearer can improve health outcomes in their calves, and also delves into the potential to make better use of data to further improve calf rearing in the future. 
 
 

Farming at the maximum sustainable output

Listen to episode two of the RASE Farm of the Future podcast to hear how farming at the maximum sustainable output can increase farm profitability, free up farmers’ time and deliver environmental benefits.
For this episode Natasha Smith and Arran Redman from Innovation for Agriculture were joined by Martin Lines from the Nature Friendly Farming Network.
They discuss the findings of the ‘Farming at the sweet spot: How farming with nature can make you happier, healthier and wealthier’ report, which was published earlier this year by Nethergill Associates, The Wildlife Trusts and the Nature Friendly Farming Network.
The episode includes insights into how the maximum sustainable output model can work in practice for arable and livestock systems, including examples from Martin’s own farm.

Autonomous farm vehicles

In this episode, we are joined by Kit Franklin from Harper Adams University, to delve into the possibilities of using autonomous vehicles on UK farms.
Kit was one of the pioneering team of agri-tech researchers behind the Hands Free Hectare. Back in 2017, this team were the first to grow a crop entirely using autonomous vehicles, without any operators in driving seats or agronomists on the ground. Since then, the Hands Free Hectare has expanded to a ⁠Hands Free Farm⁠, and the team has completed further research and trials around use of autonomous vehicles in farming systems.
Listen to find out about the benefits autonomous vehicles can offer to farm businesses and what to consider when incorporating them into a farming system.