Beanstalk Global

CPI helps make great ideas and inventions a reality. They are a team of intelligent people using advances in science and technology to solve the biggest global challenges in healthcare and sustainability. Through their incredible people and innovation infrastructure, they collaborate with their partners in industry, academia, government, and the investment community to accelerate the development and commercialisation of innovative products.  From health technologies and pharmaceuticals to sustainable food and materials innovations, they turn the entrepreneurial spirit and radical thinking of our people and partners into incredible impact that makes our world a better place. CPI is a not-for-profit deep tech innovation organisation. It connects the dots for effective innovation by bringing together academia, businesses, government and investors to make great ideas a reality. Through access to CPI’s technical and innovation knowledge and scientific facilities, companies work with CPI to commercialise their products at scale and with a clear market focus.

About sustainable food innovation at CPI

Their food solutions services offer support to assist those looking to address global food security challenges while reducing environmental impacts. Their technologies can reduce land use, water consumption, pesticide use, and greenhouse gas emissions with processes that are sustainable and non-seasonal. They are currently working with industry to develop plant-based meat, alternative livestock feed and cultured meat. These new food products and processes are animal-free, aligning with veganism and an increasing acceptance of alternative sustainable foodstuffs.

We go live with Kris Wadrop & Clare Trippett of CPI to find out more.

Kris is the General Manager of commercial operations and Clare is the Chief Technologist of CPI. We cover several wide-ranging subjects including how CPI supports industry and academia with food innovation, the positive increase of cellular agriculture innovations and how plant and animal microbiomes be harnessed to improve food sustainability.

In our July Broadcast, we are delighted to be joined by Dr Elizabeth Stockdale, Head of Farming Systems Research at NIAB.

Elizabeth has played nicely with mud throughout her career from her student days at Newcastle, and through work at SRUC, Rothamsted and back teaching students in those same lecture rooms at Newcastle.

She has over 25 years applied soil and nutrient management research experience and has engaged with a wide range of research projects connected with the study of nutrient cycling in soils and with the environmental impact of farming systems. She moved to NIAB and became head of the integrative interdisciplinary farming systems research team in 2017.

Most recently Elizabeth has been very active in developing farmer-focussed approaches to the measurement of soil health and developing on-farm toolkits for improved soil management. 

We know how important it is to be inspired by both big businesses and individuals, which is why we are excited to present Talking Leaders, a bi-monthly initiative from the AHDB which will see a series of inspirational speakers share their life experiences and deliver impactful stories to the AgriLeader community.

In our June broadcast, we have joining us Bruce Daisley - writer/podcaster of the critically acclaimed 'Eat Sleep Work Repeat'.

Bruce is a best selling author and technology leader.  He has become regarded as one the most respected thought leaders on the subject of workplace culture and the future of work. He spent 12 years running Twitter in Europe and previously YouTube in the UK.

His book on improving workplace culture, Eat Sleep Work Repeat was the Sunday Times number one business bestseller in spring 2019. The Financial Times made it Book of the Month and it was shortlisted for CMI Management Book of the Year.

In his business career Bruce  was awarded ‘Greatest Individual Contribution to New Media’ by New Media Age.

He has been rated as the top leader in the UK tech sector by Campaign Magazine. In a prestigious survey of CEOs and MDs, in 2020 Bruce was again named the “Fantasy Hire” that most leaders would like to make – his fourth time of winning the accolade (other names placed included Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Martin Sorrell). He regularly ranks as the top-rated speaker at conferences in the US and the UK.

Bruce grew up on a council estate in Birmingham. He started his working career in fast food restaurants to help him pay his way to become the first member of his family to go to university. After dozens of rejections, Bruce landed his first career role by taking a risk and drawing a cartoon CV of his life and mailed it to 50 employers. 

You have to break new ground to sustainably produce safe, healthy food. That is what Patrice and his colleagues have created with their innovative, proprietary technology platform. They have turned the chemical rule book upside down and literally gone back to basics.

Their cutting-edge protein-based biocontrols effectively protect crops against plant pests and diseases, while keeping the environment, farmer and consumer safe. They address the entire food life cycle, extending protection from farm to fork.

Patrice Sellès, CEO of Biotalys and veteran international ag exec, is adamant that the industry needs to create a safer, more sustainable food chain. Patrice has over 20 years of experience in the Ag and Food Tech Industry across various countries, including the USA and Switzerland.

Prior to joining Biotalys in July 2019, he held a number of leadership roles at Syngenta, including developing the science and technology strategy as well as deploying a technology acquisition team to establish strategic partnerships and licensing agreements in Crop Protection, Biologicals and Biotechnology. Prior to that, he was an investment manager at Life Science Partners Bioventures in Cambridge (MA, USA) where he led multiple investment deals in the Food and Ag Tech ecosystem and joined the Board of Directors of three portfolio companies. Patrice started his career in scientific management roles in various industries bringing chemical ingredients from early stage discovery to development and scale-up. He is a chemical engineer and received his PhD in organic chemistry from the University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.

Farmers and growers are normally exposed to a wide range of risks arising from weather variability, natural hazards, and pests and diseases. Agricultural and fresh food production relies heavily on the natural resource base and climate conditions. Similarly, shocks to the market from both domestic and international sources, like supply shortages due to drought or fluctuations in exchange rates, can result in price volatility. These risks directly affect the economic returns from agriculture, the livelihood of our farmers and growers, and in the long run, the capacity of farmers to invest and innovate.

But, what we have all experienced in the last 12 months is totally unprecedented.

Feed, fertiliser, fuel and labour costs have all risen dramatically squeezing margins from profit into loss. With all sectors forced to rein in inputs this will lead to reduced yields and production. Left unchecked, there could be double-digit cuts in output across all sectors of UK food production. Those output cuts could bite as early as the autumn, with wide-scale shortages an even greater likelihood in 2023.

Surging energy prices are central to the potential cutbacks in output. Farming systems depend heavily on energy for fertiliser manufacture, food storage, crop drying, milk pasteurisation and for heating everything from glasshouses to livestock sheds. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, energy costs have gone through the roof.

Fertiliser prices have risen as high as £1,000/t in recent weeks, compared with £250/t a year ago. Farmers are facing key purchasing decisions in the coming weeks and months. New season buying starts from June for arable growers, while livestock and dairy farmers often buy at first-cut silaging. Ukraine also grows about 10% of the world’s wheat, and exports have slowed to a trickle since February. Next season’s grain crop is shrouded in uncertainty with men of working age fighting and millions fleeing the country.

How this will affect the harvest and what the knock-on for next year will be is hard to gauge..

But the dire situation facing food in the UK cannot be blamed on the Ukraine conflict alone. Input prices and post-Brexit policies were already causing pain long before the Ukraine conflict. The war has only worsened an already serious situation and shone a light on how much our food supply is increasingly in the hands of other nations.

We go live with the AHDB and a number of key industry experts for an insightful panel discussion. This is with the key aim to shine a light on this hugely important subject and give direct guidance to the sectors as to how the risks can be potentially mitigated.

In our May Broadcast, we are delighted to have chat with Professor Dawn Arnold of Harper Adams University (HAU), where will be discussing How Harper Adams University Connects & Creates Long Term Benefits for Our Industry Sectors.

Dawn is Professor of Molecular Plant Pathology and Research Director of HAU. She has over 25 years’ experience working with bacterial pathogens and their interaction with their hosts, pea and bean. Her work has involved molecular genetic studies of the genes responsible for controlling host specificity and pathogenesis. Her main area of focus is specifically investigating the role of horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of pathogenicity.

Other areas of work include investigations into tree pathogens, in particular the bacteria that are associated with Acute Oak Decline in the UK. Her work is funded by BBSRC and charities such as Woodland Heritage. She was President of the British Society for Plant Pathology 2019, is a senior editor of Plant Pathology journal and an academic editor for PLoS One (until 2020). She serves on BBSRC Committee B from 2018. She regular publishes in a range of international journals and is invited as a keynote speaker a number of international and national conferences.

Her teaching includes plant pathology, genetics, genomics and molecular biology techniques. At HAU she leads and supports the development of research in many areas of the university strategic research with a focus around ‘Net Zero’ in agriculture and food supply chains in concert with the wider requirements for ‘sustainable agriculture’ (e.g. rural economies, social justice, animal welfare, nutrient cycling and pollution).

She also leads the research pillar of The School of Sustainable Food and Farming at HAU which is supported by our steering partners: Morrisons, McDonalds UK & Ireland and National Farmers Union.

Women in Food and Farming is a group of professional women in food, agriculture and the land-based industries at all stages of their careers, who get together to discuss business issues, support each other via mentorship and advice, and help generate networks of contacts that might be useful to themselves and their businesses.

Founded in 2011 by Christine Tacon CBE, the group started back in 2011 with just five women and has now grown to over 500 members. Christine is known to many as the first Grocery Code Adjudicator and head of the Co-op’s farming business, she has just been appointed Chair of Assured Food Standards which operates the Red Tractor Assurance scheme amongst other roles.

As you will know, we recently had the hugely sad news that Caroline Drummond, champion of sustainable farming and the driving force behind Open Farm Sunday, had passed away following a short illness.

In celebration of Caroline and everything she has achieved for us all and our sectors, the Women in Food & Farming Group and host Beanstalk Global, are running a Broadcast with a number of individuals who have been so positively influenced by Caroline over the years.

An announcement from Linking Environment and Farming (Leaf), the organisation she helped develop and led for more than 30 years, informed us of the news on Tuesday 24 May “with profound sadness”. Leaf chairman Philip Wynn said Caroline was “an inspiration” and praised her “passion, determination, foresight and energy” that had transformed Leaf from its small beginnings 30 years ago to the “globally recognised and respected organisation it is today. There really are no words to express how much Caroline will be missed within Leaf and the farming industry; but most deeply by her family, to whom we extend our greatest sympathy,” said Philip.

From its humble beginnings in 1991, Leaf had grown under Caroline’s leadership to become a hugely influential organisation, both by encouraging more sustainable farming practices and by improving public understanding of agriculture. One of Leaf’s flagship events is, of course, Open Farm Sunday, which each year connects more than one-quarter of a million people with farming.

But another of Caroline’s huge achievements was leading the Leaf Marque initiative – a farm assurance system recognising products grown sustainably with care for the environment. She also led the successful merger with the charity Farming and Countryside Education (Face), to bolster the organisation’s educational role.

Caroline was awarded an MBE for her services to agriculture in 2009, and in 2019 she won the Farmers Weekly Lifetime Achievement Award. Speaking at the time, Woodland Trust chief executive

An agriculture graduate from Seale-Hayne College in Devon, Caroline was also a Nuffield scholar and was named one of the Women Economic Forum’s “Women of the Decade”. 

Farmers have been quick to express their gratitude for the work Caroline did for the industry. NFU President Minette Batters led the industry tributes, describing Caroline as “a tour de force within the agricultural community.

Caroline was first and foremost passionate about environmentally friendly farming. She recognised how food production worked hand-in-hand with the environment and was a fantastic advocate for integrated farm management”.

Defra secretary George Eustice said: “Caroline’s establishment and leadership of Leaf was instrumental in driving forward sustainable farming practices throughout the UK and beyond. Her development and promotion of the Leaf Marque Standard has cemented its status as a globally recognised certificate of excellence.  She will be sorely missed.”

Norfolk farmer and Farmers Weekly columnist David Richardson, who co-founded Leaf in the early 1990s, described her as “a force of nature”.

“By her enthusiasm and energy, she led Leaf from a small charity advocating integrated farm management to an influential organisation with contacts around the world

Leaf now operates in 19 countries, and 48% of the fruit and vegetables consumed in the UK are produced to Leaf Marque standards.

I was there at the beginning and had the privilege of working with her. Her achievements exceeded my optimistic vision. Her loss at such a young age is tragic and will be felt by the whole farming and food industry.”

Taking place between 16th-20th May 2022, #AgriLeadershipWeek is back! The Agri-Leadership Consortium (ALC) which originated as The Farmers Club Charitable Trust (FCCT), the Institute of Agriculture Management (IAgrM), the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB), Nuffield Farming Scholarships, the Worshipful Company of Farmers and the Council for the Awards of the Royal Agricultural Societies (CARAS) has grown to include Management Development Services (MDS), the National Farmers Union (NFU), The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH), Farmers Weekly and the Agricultural Universities Council.

The purpose of the week is to promote the importance of leadership to develop businesses and organisations and to motivate people working in agri-food. The week will highlight opportunities for those engaged in agriculture and food to develop their professional management and leadership skills at whatever stage they are at in their careers. It will be of no surprise to many of you that our industry lags someway behind its peers in terms of leadership development and investment in leadership training, and #AgriLeadershipWeek aims to promote the importance of leadership in successful business, organisation and team development from the small family farm to the large corporate agribusiness. In a twenty-first-century knowledge-based economy, attracting and retaining the most talented human capital to our industry is fundamental.

A range of activities are planned during the week, including an extensive social media campaign, interviews with key industry leaders and a review of leadership development opportunities both within the sector and more generally. 

Jamie’s Farm supports vulnerable young people nationwide to thrive academically, socially and emotionally through a unique 5-day residential experience and follow-up programme. The programme is a blend of ‘Farming, Family, Therapy and Legacy’ where children take on real jobs with purpose, punctuated with therapeutic support. The programme is in high demand and devliered at four rural farms across the country near Bath (HQ), Hereford, Monmouth and Lewes, alongside a city farm in Waterloo. Since the charity’s inception in 2009, nearly 10,000 young people have been supported with evidence for fewer school exclusions, increased engagment at school, improved wellbeing and the development of essential life skills.

Jamie graduated from the University of Edinburgh and taught History at Haling Manor School in Croydon from 2003. He worked in the Teach First office as part of the recruitment team from 2005 to 2008, focusing on the Jamie’s Farm project during his holidays and weekends. Jamie now manages the farming, fundraising and finance functions of the charity, as well as driving our growth strategy. Jamie is committed to ensuring the Jamie’s Farm experience is available to as many children as possible. His leadership has taken the organisation from occasional visits to his mother’s smallholding in Wiltshire, through to being a nationally significant charity, running four residential farms and one city farm. He can often also be found alongside children on the farm that bears his name, delivering lambs and calves and demonstrating that there is nothing wrong with getting your hands dirty in the cause of Farming, Family and Therapy.

Jake studied History at Cambridge University, before returning to his Birmingham roots to teach up the road from where he grew up as part of the Teach First Leadership Development Programme. He has also enjoyed teaching overseas, in Palestine and Ghana, and gained a distinction in his Masters in Educational Leadership from Warwick University.

Jake joined Jamie’s Farm in 2002 and has worked hard to ensure that as many children as possible get as great an impact as possible from our unique provision across all Jamie’s Farms. This involves supporting the delivery teams at each location to maintain and improve our approach and ensuring the central machine at Jamie’s Farm is well-run to enable our programme to be effectively delivered. It also includes a spot of river jumping with visiting children at our Hill House Farm HQ, which is unbeatable as a reminder of what the farm is all about. With his appointment as Co-CEO in early 2022 Jake will lead and develop all aspects of our work with children at Jamie’s Farm while Jamie will focus on Fundraising and Farming.

In our May Broadcast, we are delighted to have on Stephanie Berkeley from the great Yellow Wellies initiative, part of the UK Farm Safety Foundation.

About the Farm Safety Foundation: Rising concern over the continuing high level of fatal and life-changing injury accidents on farms prompted leading rural insurer NFU Mutual to set up a charitable foundation in 2014 to help farmers work safely (Registered Charity No. 1159000).

The Foundation works closely with partners in the industry to engage, educate and communicate strong and relatable farm safety messages. Over the past eight years, the FSF has developed and delivered farm safety training for 16,000 young farmers in 44 land-based colleges and universities throughout the UK and through the Young Farmers’ Club network.

Through national campaigns such as Farm Safety Week and Mind Your Head, the Farm Safety Foundation is preserving and protecting the physical and mental wellbeing of the next generation of farmers and equipping them with smart strategies and specific skills to live well and farm well.

Hailing from Donegal in Ireland, Stephanie’s friends were either farmers or fishermen; equally dangerous industries. After studying European Business Studies and spending time living and studying in Asturias and Barcelona, Stephanie began a career in journalism at Belfast’s Newsletter, working in the business section of the newspaper before joining publishing house Greer Publications with Ulster Business magazine.

After various roles in the Greer Publications group with Specify magazine and Ulster Business, Stephanie was appointed Editor of the award-winning Northern Woman magazine as well as editing the lifestyle section of Ulster Business.

From 2006-2014 she was Marketing & PR Manager for W5, Ireland’s only science centre and a charity with educational aims before her move, in 2014, to Stratford-upon-Avon where she has developed and grown the Farm Safety Foundation, its education programme and award-winning campaigns. Stephanie is a qualified Mental Health First Aider, author of The Little Book of Minding Your Head, a member of ISASH (International Society of Agricultural Safety & Health) and represents the UK on Safety Culture and Risk Management in Agriculture (SACURIMA) – Cost Action CA16123.