Their presentations are part of the AHDB Theatre speaker programme and are taking place on day two of the Cereals show – Thursday June 9.
Dr Ross will speak during ‘The fourth agricultural revolution is here’ session, discussing collaborative project SlugBot – an autonomous slug monitoring and bio-molluscicide treatment system.
International Business Development Manager, Dr Ross, said: “The concept of SlugBot was conceived during my Nuffield Farming Scholarship travels, when it soon became apparent that there’s a gap in the market for effective slug monitoring. Existing methods are labour intensive, therefore many farmers just aren’t partaking in this key practice.
“Meanwhile, we have limited control measures for slugs and bio-molluscicides are not economical for use in arable and oilseed rape crops. SlugBot aims to overcome these two challenges by combining improved monitoring with precision application in one.
“Having recently concluded the project, Cereals is an ideal opportunity to showcase its potential with farmers and agronomists. The potential impact of SlugBot is huge and multi-stranded; this is a project that has the capability to deliver real on-farm benefits.
“One of the reasons that this project was so successful was the collaboration with farmers during the development process. This was essential in ensuring SlugBot is fit for purpose with the optimum chance of future widespread adoption.”
Dr Langford will present during the ‘Regenerative & no-till farming – how to avoid the pitfalls and make it work’ session. He will present the ‘Regenerative Agriculture Field Profiler’, a solution to help farmers de-risk the adoption of regen ag practices.
The Field Profiler is an outcome of CHAP’s New Innovations Programme, where respected voices from industry are brought together to devise strategic business cases that address gaps in the market.
Dr Harry Langford, Innovation Network Lead, said: “The Field Profiler is a concept that works by securing data to measure and benchmark the impact of regenerative agriculture, helping farmers to quantify on-farm benefits and de-risk change.
“Then, as it develops, it will be used to produce granular field profiles specific to different soil types and topographies, with the ultimate goal of creating a predictive tool that offers scenario testing and simulation.
“We have already had great engagement with the proposed solution. The next step is to form a collaboration to help make it a reality, which is why presenting at Cereals is important in helping us to achieve that goal. We need innovative, forward-thinking farmers on board for not just the initial research, but for the development of the solution too.
“Both myself and Jenna are delighted to be returning to face-to-face events and look forward to speaking to visitors at the show.”
CHAP at Cereals 2022
Dr Harry Langford – AHDB Theatre, June 9, 12.30pm
Dr Jenna Ross – AHDB Theatre, June 9, 2pm
Visit the CHAP gazebo on the Rothamsted Research stand throughout the show to find out more, or e-mail enquiries@chap-solutions.co.uk to discuss these two projects.
