Arable Hands Free Hectare broadens out to 35ha farm R


esearchers behind the pio- neering Hands Free Hec- tare initiative at Harper


Adams University have secured funding from Innovate UK to cre- ate a Hands Free Farm. The project – which uses ro-


bots and drones rather than hu- mans to undertake fi eldwork – was the fi rst in the world to grow, tend and harvest a crop of barley without operators in driving seats or agronomists on the ground. Run by Harper Adams Uni- versity and Precision Decisions, a Map of Ag company, the pro- ject started in 2016. It has since been taken through two successful cropping cycles, and won a number of accolades, including the BBC Food and Farming Future Food Award.


The new Hands Free Farm will be a three-year-long project, run in partnership between Harper Adams and Precision Decisions, along with a new partner; the UK division of Australian preci-


The Hands Free Hectare team are taking an increasingly sophisticated approach to farming


sion agriculture specialist Farm- scan AG. Mechatronics researcher Jon- athan Gill said: “This time, we’re planning to grow three different combinable crops across 35ha.


We’re moving past the feasibility study which the hectare provided us with, to now a vision of the fu- ture of farming.” The Agricultural Engineer- ing Precision Innovation Centre


(Agri-Epi Centre) is providing the team with development space and project management support at their Midlands Agri-Tech Innova- tion Hub, which is also located on the university’s campus.


MERVYNLAMBERT P L A NT L TD No1 East Anglia’s plant hirer www.mervynlambert.co.uk • 01953 688211 26 ANGLIA FARMER • JUNE 2019 64968


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