AgriSearch secures funding to study emerging technologies
AgriSearch has secured funding through the Tenfold NetZero Accelerator programme to investigate how emerging technologies can help reduce the burden for farmers when it comes to nutrient management planning.
The programme is supported by DAERA and Digital Catapult who are the UK authority on advanced digital technology.
Using advanced digital technologies AgriSearch aim to deliver a proof-of-concept which would demonstrate how the use of emerging technologies can generate easy-to-use farm NMP advice from large datasets such as the results of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme. Following a tender and selection process a technology solution provider will be appointed shortly with work on the proof-of-concept commencing in July.
This programme will give farmers in AgriSearch’s Beacon Farm Network an opportunity to gain access to expertise in advanced digital technologies that they would never formally have access to and improve nutrient management on their farms.
AgriSearch commissioned a review into Nutrient Management Planning tools last year which concluded that the current calculators available to farmers are cumbersome, not user-friendly and difficult to interpret. A changing climate coupled with volatile fertiliser prices means that effective Nutrient Management Planning is essential to optimise soil health, improve farm resilience and increase farm profitability.