Innovations in Agriculture, the podcast from the UK Agri-Tech Centre
Talking to the people at the heart of agricultural innovation and sustainability
In our regular podcast we explore the latest insights and breakthroughs from industry pioneers, researchers and innovators.
Our conversations aim to bridge the gap between cutting-edge agricultural technology creators and beneficiaries, exploring the rapid deployment and adoption of new technology and practice.
Fostering relationships among researchers, startups, investors and farmers, together, we’ll uncover the potential of technology to address the big challenges in our sector, transforming the way we approach food production for a more secure and productive future. Listen now on Spotify, Amazon music, apple podcasts or your favourite podcast listening app.
If you have a question about our podcast, a topic you would like us to cover, you’d like to take part in a discussion or develop a podcast with us, please get in touch.
We welcome all feedback and ideas for future conversations.
In this episode, Charles Bowyer, Farm Technology Specialist at the UK Agri-Tech Centre, is joined by Somerset farmers Rob Addicott and Jeremy Padfield, as well as Dr Annie Rayner, FAI Farms.
Listen to how they draw on their experience to discuss what it really takes to make agri-tech fit for farms.
Published on 4 February 2026.
Welcome to Let’s Talk Agri-Tech, the podcast by the UK Agri-Tech Centre. This conversation is part of our Growth Week series, which will be available here. In this episode, our host, Dr Grace O’Gorman, is joined by Charlie Guy, CEO and Founder of LettUs Grow and Charlie Mercer, Policy Director at Start-up Coalition. They discuss how policy and regulatory factors are shaping business growth, barriers to scale and advice for agri-tech businesses.
Published on 3 February, 2026
Welcome to Let’s Talk Agri-Tech, the podcast by the UK Agri-Tech Centre. This conversation is part of our Growth Week series which will be available here. In this episode, Helen Brookes, our host is joined by Emily Marshall, Sustainability and National Account Manager and Louisa Hogarty, Chief People and Impact Officer, at Noble Foods. They discuss the importance of industry expectations, the opportunities for agri-tech in the supply chain, and advice for agri-tech businesses.
Published on February 2, 2026
Welcome to Let’s Talk Agri-Tech, the podcast from the UK Agri-Tech Centre.
In this episode, we’re joined by two of our colleagues: Dr Harry Langford, Innovation Director, who brings expertise in soil science and environmental engineering and Dr Alex McCormack, Agronomy Innovation Lead, who specialises in novel fertilisers, early disease detection and the development of new farming systems for arable and horticultural crops.
Published on November 28, 2025
Welcome to Let’s Talk Agri Tech, the podcast from the UK Agri-Tech Centre.
Today, we’re talking about the Vineyard Frost Project, an innovative project bringing together cutting-edge forecasting, smart sensors and machine learning to help growers protect their vines.
Published on November 13, 2025
Welcome to Let’s Talk Agri-Tech, the podcast from the UK Agri-Tech Centre. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Andrew Lessey, COO of Antler Bio, a fast growing agri-tech business that’s transforming how we understand and manage dairy herds. Andrew shares the story of AntlerBio’s growth and Epiherd, a tool that uses gene expression data to boost productivity, sustainability and animal welfare.
Published on November 5, 2025
In this episode, we’ll be talking about the innovative and exciting GreenShed project, designed to revolutionise livestock farming, combining cutting-edge technology with circular economy principles. In this episode, we talk to three of the project partners, No Pollution, Organic Power Ireland and Galebreaker, to hear all about this groundbreaking project, which is based at SRUC.
Published on: October 15, 2025
Welcome to Let’s Talk Agri-Tech, the podcast from the UK Agri-Tech Centre. In this episode, we speak to Burak Karadag, Founder and CTO of Debye Ltd, to discuss his transition from aerospace engineering to agriculture and his work on plasma-based nitrogen fixation, particularly in the Electric Nitrogen project in collaboration with the UK Agri-Tech Centre.
Published on: July 3, 2025
Welcome to Let’s Talk Agri-Tech, the podcast from the UK Agri-Tech Centre. In this episode, we are joined by Chris Knight from Agribot and Mike Jones from the UK Agri Tech Centre to talk about the Grassland Modelling Project and discuss how artificial intelligence, satellite data and climate models are transforming agriculture.
Published on: June 18, 2025
Today, we’re joined by Claire Hodge, Head of Agri-Systems at the UK Agri-Tech Centre, to discuss how we can better integrate farmers’ knowledge into research and development, the role of co-development and what it takes to bridge the gap between innovation and on-farm application.
Published on: April 17, 2025
Throughout this series, we’ll be speaking with experts to unpack these themes in more detail. Today, we’re focussing on knowledge exchange. How farmers learn, share information and adopt new practices.
We’re joined by Sarah Nightingale, Knowledge Exchange Manager at the UK Agri-Tech Centre to explore these areas.
Published on: April 17, 2025
Over the course of this series, we’ll be speaking with experts to unpack these themes in more detail. Today, Ross Robertson, Farm Technology Specialist at the UK Agri-Tech Centre joins us to discuss the real-world challenges of technology adoption, from connectivity and cost to integration issues with farm operations and also explore how farmers can be better involved in co-developing solutions that work.
Published on: April 17, 2025
Welcome back to Let’s Talk Agri-Tech, where we explore the role of innovation and technology in the future of farming. Sofia Hirscher and Thomas Slattery kick off this mini-series, built around the insights from our latest report, Innovation and Technology: The Farmer’s Perspective, which captures the views of farmers on what they need from agri-tech, the barriers to adoption and how we can co-develop better solutions.
Published on: April 17, 2025
On International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2025, the UK Agri-Tech Centre celebrates the remarkable contributions of women in our organisation.
We sit down with Chioma Ezeanaka, Project Manager at the UK Agri-Tech Centre, to explore her inspiring journey. With expertise spanning biological sciences and electronic engineering to project management and design thinking, Chioma brings a diverse skill set to her role. She has also demonstrated her entrepreneurial prowess as both a chief strategist and a successful business owner.
In this episode, we’re talking about healthy soils and the Thriving Roots Underpinning Total Soil Health (TRUTH) Project. Clemmie discusses farmer engagement and its importance in developing technology, and Emma discusses the cutting-edge technologies that are involved, the project partners and their roles.
In this episode we will be talking to Martin Sutcliffe, Aquaculture Innovation lead and Megan Powell, Innovation Associate – Livestock to discuss our most recent thought leadership report ‘Livestock and Aquaculture: Shaping the next ten years’.
What is driving the sustainability agenda? Is it the consumer or is it something else?
Highlighting the rapid need for change and the consequences of inaction, this episode talks about the roles consumers may play in the future and why we are seeing the targets and goals on climate set by the businesses facing the consumer.
Somebody had a bright idea, but was it a good one, can it be delivered and is soy really the ‘best feed’?
This episode discusses the art of the possible, the bold steps that are being taken on farm, and who you should talk to about what if you are under pressure to re-evaluate what you are feeding your livestock.
There’s more to feeding cattle than meets the eye. Is it all as simple as we make out?
From discussions on synthetic amino acids to magic beans and methane inhibitors, this episode unpack the ups and downs of seeking feeding perfection from farmers and those at the coal face of getting the best yield with the inputs available.
Everyone says you should be more efficient, but very few have told you how to make that happen.
This episode discusses a pilot programme that has helped 10 farms see a £1 million reduction in their collective cost of production in just 12 months. Importantly we hear from one of the farmers as to why they embarked on such a programme.
If you have any questions about any of our podcast episodes, get in touch with the team at [email protected]
