What is the Devon Agri-Tech Alliance?
The Devon Agri-Tech Alliance aims to support Devon’s agricultural sector by making innovation easier and more accessible. It will facilitate a community of research organisations, tech developers, farmers and other agricultural businesses so that those working on the ground can help shape future research and collaborate with tech developers to ensure that research and tech solutions are practical and relevant. It also aims to facilitate collaborations and provide spaces for discussion and knowledge transfer.
How does the Alliance benefit me?
Members will be able to talk to other farmers and agricultural businesses about what works (and what doesn’t!) and members will hear first-hand from research organisations and tech developers about opportunities and new ways of doing things. It could lead to collaborative opportunities to test new ideas, feedback on new technology and help design future research.
How can I become an Alliance member?
If you would like to become a member of the Alliance and sign up to our monthly newsletter, you can either sign-up by using the registration link, or email us at data@devon.gov.uk.
We have recently launched a new collaborative platform for members of the Alliance. Here we post live updates on events, webinars, funding and opportunities that Alliance members may be interested in. You can also reach out with questions for peers, collaborate on projects and explore potential business opportunities.
Click here to sign up for the Devon Agri-Tech Alliance Global Farm Pioneers platform!
The history of the Devon Agri-Tech Alliance
The launch of the Devon Agri-Tech Alliance
The Alliance formally launched at the Farm Innovation Event on the 18th of November 2022 , where over 70 attendees – which featured farmers, agri-tech developers, and research organisations from across Devon, were able to hear about the latest developments in Devon’s agri-tech sector and were able to hear first-hand about the various successes of the Devon Agri-Tech Accelerator project, and to learn about the next pioneering development in Devon’s agri-tech sector, the Devon Agri-Tech Alliance.
The Alliance is the resulting community created through the Accelerator. The Agri-Tech Alliance is a place where farmers and Agri-Tech businesses can connect and communicate. Agri-Tech companies can share their innovations directly with farmers and landowners. Farmers can also communicate with other farms that have similar land types or users who have had experience using a type of Agri-Tech, to see what effect it has had on a similar farm to theirs.
Case Studies
Some of the recipients of the Agri Tech Accelerator grant, which could be used to support the development of agri-tech installation on Devon farms, agreed to be filmed to share their experience. All the case study videos below were filmed by Rowe Films and commissioned by the Devon Agri-Tech Alliance.
Case Study: How Now Dairy
Case Study: Dart Valley Fungi
Case Study: Lee Farm Services
Case Study: Taw Valley Microgreens
Spotlight Events
The Alliance has hosted series of specialist workshops, following the Farm Innovation Event, called the Spotlight Events. These events were designed to connect agricultural businesses (including aquaculture, farming, forestry, horticulture) with agri-tech developers and research organisations (including universities, and other academic institutions) so that Alliance members could exchange ideas and collaborate to identify challenges and opportunities, design, develop, test and feedback to stimulate innovation, new ideas and opportunities.
Some highlights from the spotlight events are listed below.
Slurry Infrastructure Grant: Info & Advice Workshops
The Alliance worked with Business Information Point to run two free workshops to help understand the Slurry Infrastructure Grant that would help livestock farmers in England to improve or expand their slurry storage capacity to 6 months and also fund the fitting of impermeable covers on grant-funded stores. The workshops provided more information about the grant, and discussed the application process, explaining why you should apply even if your farm was not in a priority area.
‘Roots to Market’
On Thursday 23rd February 2023, we hosted ‘Roots to Market’ workshop at Pipers Farm, which was designed to support local producers through hearing the lived experience of two different farm businesses, Pipers Farm and How Now Dairy, who shared their unique routes to market.
We also heard from Cosmic, a digital enterprise, about the digital support that is available for farm businesses through the Future Farming Resilience programme.
We got to engage in discussions with a number of different farming businesses that were in attendance, and there was lots of food for thought following our productive discussions. We were treated to a lovely farm-to-table lunch from Henri and Peter Greig and the rest of the Pipers Farm team!
Below is some of the feedback we have received on the day:
‘Great talks, great food and great conversation!’
‘Thank you for today, this has been a brilliant event.’ Really helpful speakers and I appreciate them sharing their experiences’.
‘Such a a lovely informal atmosphere, great food + lots of helpful networking and conversation. Great speakers, wonderful to hear the passion + to get tips for our business’
A huge thank you to all involved, and to the various members of the Alliance that attended this workshop.
Devon Agri-Tech Accelerator
The Devon Agri-Tech Alliance is the legacy of the Devon Agri-Tech Accelerator project, which aimed to support agri-tech businesses with their innovations and to create a community between agri-tech businesses and farms. The Devon Agri-Tech Accelerator was funded through Community Renewal Funding. Read more about the Devon Agri-Tech Accelerator project.
Part of supporting agri-tech businesses with their innovations was to develop an understanding of how farms utilised technology, what opportunities were around the corner and what Agri-Tech developers were located within Devon. The research element was run by the University of Plymouth, and the findings of the research can be found in the DATA Sector Research and Mapping Report.
Contact us
To keep up to date with future events, follow us on Eventbrite!
If you have any questions about the project or email us at data@devon.gov.uk.
To provide valuable feedback to shape the Alliance, please complete our survey.
Please check our privacy policy to see how we use and store your submitted data.