When you think of cutting-edge agricultural robotics, Mississippi might not be the first place that comes to mind — but Professor Alex Thomasson is changing that.

As Head of Ag & Biosystems Engineering at Mississippi State University and Director of the Agricultural Autonomy Institute, Alex has built one of the most ambitious autonomy programs in the U.S. — blending drones, cotton harvesters, and robotic field systems into a living testbed for the future of farming.

In this episode, Kit and Ray talk with Alex about how a city kid from Houston found his calling under a tractor, why the U.S. is racing ahead on spray drones, and what “Autonomous Acres” could mean for the next generation of farm innovators.

#precisionag #drones #agtech #agritech #agriculturalengineering #robotics #automation #autonomy #Namaste #Farming #Farmer

Clive Blacker started, built and sold his agtech company right here in the UK. Listen to find out how he did it…

With a Nuffiled Scholarship as a launch pad and his technical experience from his early days keeping alive an old French sugar beet harvester. Clive took on trials and support for Yara and the N-Sensor. From there Clive was able to deliver next level decision making to farmers at a time when big data wasn’t such a big idea and decision making on farm was a mixture of gambling and gut instinct.

With such a forward thinking outlook it wasn’t too long before a role at UK government beckoned, advising the Department of Trade on all things Precision Agriculture and how to support farming and farmers.

Since selling his business, Precision Decisions to Map of Ag Clive has started Agrovation to continue to help farmers with their journey through precision agriculture and to develop new technology working on a number of IUK projects. He is also a key part of the Aganalyst Team supporting them as an agronomy and precision ag specialist.

As a trustee of the Douglas Bomford Trust, Clive has been able to help the next generation while gaining a front seat of the latest developments in agtech.

Ray and Kit really enjoyed recording this episode so check it out…

#precisionag #drones #agtech #agritech #agriculturalengineering #departmentoftrade #Nuffield #scholarship #robotics #automation #autonomy #soilscience #Namaste #Farming #Farmer

This week the co-hosts question the nature of reality itself and explain how the virtual world could help farmers to solve real world problems.

Ray talks about his first experiences with virtual reality as a child at a local fun fair in the 1990’s and Kit explains how virtual reality has been pitched to educational institutions such as Harper Adams as a tool to educate and train the engineers and technicians of the future, as well as how his Hands Free Hectare partner in crime, Jonthan Gill, has been pioneering VR tech to help share crop trial results remotely and distribute learning across the world.

The pair also delve into the emerging world of augmented reality and how some of the biggest companies on the planet, such as Meta (Facebook) who are collaborating with the likes of Rayban to create an augmented world for their users.

Kit explains how a project in rural 5G connectivity led to potential developments in veterinary medicine, promising to enable remote farmers to use AR tech to carry out surgery on their own livestock.

Finally the pair take some time to think about the future applications of AR, could AR become the next step for ISOBus? Could screens in the tractor cab be a thing of the past, allowing farmers to get amazing results even from low tech machinery? Or perhaps, CEO of IAgrE, Charlie Nicklin, could appear in augmented reality to help farmers set up their classic tractor and plough for the perfect prize winning results?

#agritech #agtech #farming #Tractor #AR #VR #metaverse #meta #facebook #augmentedreality #farmsimulator #agriculturalengineer #Namaste #IAgrE #Ploughingmatch

James Write is a true pioneer, a first generation farmer and agritech entrepreneur with political ambitions in his sights.

Kit and Ray hear how James found farming during his time as a broke gap year traveller looking to earn some cash on a New Zealand dairy and how this ignited a passion to pursue a crash course in agriculture at the Royal Agricultural University.

James has explored opportunities in the start-up space innovating in the insect farming space to manage food waste through Multibox Ltd and now after a chance meeting and a New Years Day lunch with Ian Wheal, since then his day job has been to be part of the team building Breedr.

While helping to deliver the future of livestock agtech, James has also been able to build up a successful livestock farming business now proud to say that he and his wife own their own farm

James explains how his political ambitions are based on a desire to be part of the solution rather than complain about the problems of society. James is also keen to make sure that the rural voice is part of the political conversation and has brought his thoughts and ideas to bear as a local Conservative councillor. James is also keen to share the rural voice with national media and his column in GBNews and interviews for the BBC are a big part of his mission.

#VC #funding #startup #breedr #livestock #populist #agtec #agritech #farming #farmer #livestock #agriculturalengineering #agriculture #funded #IUK #politics

This week, Ray and Kit go in person and in deep on drones in agriculture – from early hype to present-day reality.

Kit recalls his 2012 vision of swarm robotics with seed-drone resupply, while Ray draws on his experience at Small Robot Company and the ever-present question: why not just use a drone? The pair explore how the drone code, safety legislation, and hardware limitations slowed innovation in the UK—despite widespread adoption elsewhere, especially for crop spraying.

They revisit examples from Hummingbird and Ursula Agriculture to Skippy Scout and XAG spray drones, highlighting the niche applications where UAVs now shine: from hillside weed control and carbon validation to mapping deer populations and those annoyingly-shaped fields in the US Midwest.

As ever, there’s a little satire, a nod to Ukraine’s drone-driven battlefield innovation, and a healthy dose of “what’s next?” for drone tech in ag.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to drive a 1970s tractor with an electric motor instead of an old diesel engine? Well this week the lads find out on a visit to Ben Bament of Somerset EV. With a degree in History, Ben didn’t follow a conventional route into engineering.

As a self taught engineer, Ben has completed some incredible electric conversion projects, from an MG F sports car with a Mitsubishi electric motor, BMW batteries and a 45mile range. Ben explains how this project landed him a job at Silent Classics working to electrify some of the coolest classic cars on the planet.

Alongside his work converting classic cars, Ben has also been building the business of Somerset EV, with his electric conversions for quadbikes and tractors and upgrades and maintenance on classic Landrovers. The British Leyland tractor converted to all electric is Ben's latest creation and he has some great stories of taking it out onto the open road and even taking it to an Octopus Energy fast charger to show the capability of his machine and his skill set.

Ray and Kit even get let loose around the fields of Somerset in the converted British Leyland tractor to put it through its paces.

This week Kit and Ray say Namaste to a whole year of being Brash. To celebrate a year of broadcasting, the pair meet up for a pint in a pub, fresh off the back of a trip to Somerset EV and discuss some of their standout episodes and guests. Including;

Is autonomy the silver bullet for farming - Why was this episode so popular? And what does the adoption of robotics in the UK look like now, have either of the hosts changed their minds?

Chris Laudando from L&Aser on his thoughts about Robotics adoption in and farmer perceptions for automation rather than autonomy.

Brian Matthew MP and his work to bring water sources to communities in Africa working with Wateraid and how engineering can intertwine with culture when delivering such life changing projects.

Matt Ryan CCO of Oxbury Bank, his journey into agriculture through deploying transformational technologies in New Zealand and then into agricultural banking and fintech.

Chris Chaveese of Muddy Machines and his “Assist, Reduce, Replicate” framework for robotics on farm. Kit and Ray also discuss the sad demise of Muddy Machines following their unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign.

Callum Chalmers of FarmScan Ag and his positivity about the UK as a country to be based in and the backing for agritech that is available to support innovators and entrepreneurs.

Doreen Abeysundra and her Bankable! Podcast, helping founders and entrepreneurs to discover what it takes to bankroll a project and how investing in a startup has to stand up against other options for allocating capital.

It goes without saying that the pair discuss Balespike-ology, how innovators can get started and build a business and how their approach applies to some of the individuals and businesses mentioned on the pod.

Of course Kit even manages to mention the love of his life FarmDroid.

This week Ray and Kit sit down with Tom Beach, founder of Autonomous Agri Solutions and CTO of Bare Acres. Tom shares his journey from growing up on his family’s Warwickshire farm and working in the farm shop at weekends, to navigating education and turning his dyslexia into a superpower on the path to agricultural engineering.

He tells the story of how a chance meeting at Agritechnica led to importing the Robotti robotic farming platform into the UK, and gives his take on the Robots as a Service model after rolling it out with UK farmers. He explains how he was able to grow out a service and support offering for new and emerging tech being imported under the A.A.S brand.

Tom also gives the co-hosts an exclusive look into his latest venture, Bare Acres – a dedicated launch pad, test space and hub for global ag-tech in the UK. Alongside Bertie Phillips and Archie Hawkins. Tom shares how this could provide the starting point for a technology adoption based venture fund!

A conversation full of grit, insight, and big visions for the future of farm automation. 🚜🤖

#AgTech #FarmInnovation #BaleSpikeology #Agritech #BrashAgPodcast #AgMachinery #FarmTech #SustainableAg #AgriculturePodcast #AgRobotics #Lasers #Nonchemicalweeding #farmer #Namaste #automation #Robotti #funding #VC

In this news feed episode Kit and Ray catch up on the latest developments in the L&Aser and Carbon Robotics legal battle following the interview with Laudando & Associates LLC in last week's episode. Did Chris follow through with his upload of the L&Aser IP to Github?

The pair also share news of the sad closure of Vapourmatic a well known agricultural spares retailer in the UK by its parent company John Deere.

The co-hosts also consider recent government support for the UK steel industry in support of national security and whether farming should be considered through the same lens, especially given that the raw materials for steel production are imported.

And in other news the pair get away from AgriTech to discuss the inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games, how it has been both hilarious and terrifying in equal measure and what this kind of technology could mean for agriculture and farm automation.

In other other news, Kit and Ray celebrate the 1st Birthday of Brash Ag and take some time to reminisce on the past 45 episodes.

#AgTech #FarmInnovation #BaleSpikeology #Agritech #BrashAgPodcast #AgMachinery #FarmTech #SustainableAg #AgriculturePodcast #AgRobotics #Lasers #Nonchemicalweeding #farmer #Namaste #automation #Britishsteel #1stbirthday

This week the pair journey (virtually) across the Atlantic to Chew the cud with Agritech pioneer and innovator Chris Laudando Founder of Laudando & Associates. Chris shares his background growing up as a “Rust belt kid”, finding social mobility training as a mechanical engineer at Purdue University. Chris explains how he was able to leverage his skills and experience from the food processing industry in the farming sector, delivering R&D and NRE projects for US based farmers and growers. Chris also gives Ray and Kit an update on the ongoing legal battle that Laudando & Associates has been going through in a fight over Laserweeding technology with Carbon robotics.

Could the light at the end of the tunnel for the battle come from RFK Jnr and the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign or has lobbying from the chemical behemoths taken the sting out of the tail of the MAHA movement?

#AgTech #FarmInnovation #BaleSpikeology #Agritech #BrashAgPodcast #AgMachinery #FarmTech #SustainableAg #AgriculturePodcast #AgRobotics #Lasers #Nonchemicalweeding #farmer #Namaste #automation