Written by Charlotte Cunningham
Hands-Free Hectare, the joint project run by Harper Adams University and Precision Decisions, is growing to become a 35ha farm, courtesy of funding from Innovate UK. CPM reports. The project, which started in 2016, aimed to be the first in the world to grow, tend and harvest a crop without tractor operators or agronomists on the ground. It has already had two successful harvests, winning a number of awards. The new farm, based at the university’s campus in Shropshire, will be a three-year project, and brings in a third partner; the UK division of Australian precision agriculture specialist Farmscan AG. And the Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre (Agri-Epi Centre) is providing the team with development space and project management support. Multiple crops Jonathan Gill, mechatronics researcher at the university 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 a vision of the future of farming. “We want to prove the capability and ability of these systems in reducing the levels of soil compaction and precision application.” The farm seeks to solve problems like fleet management and swarm vehicle logistics and navigation, explained Martin Abell,…
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