Brash Ag

This week the co-hosts discuss what Ray found during his visit to Groundswell Agriculture Festival. We hear from:

Jonathan Goodacre from Keltie LLP, Patent Attorneys, and why they have chosen to attend the festival. Jonathan also explains the importance of IP and patents for start-ups and innovators and some of the big benefits for businesses could be missing out on.

Andrew Baker from Soil acoustics tells us about their soil health monitoring tech, how it works and why it could be a game changer in the re-gen farming game. Andrew also talks about some of the exciting future applications for their technology..

Andrew Starkey from MTi group about how the Small Robot Company assets and hardware became the unexpected springboard for mining tech and automation. Andrew also explains how Groundswell is showcasing the value of agtech and how agtech is often leading the way when it comes to innovation.

Most importantly Kit and Ray discuss whether Ray managed to find a high-tech balespike product!?

Welcome back to Brash Ag – the farm innovation podcast with your hosts Ray King and Kit Franklin. This week, we’re still roaming the Cereals 2025 show – diving into some of the most exciting tech on display.

In Part Two, we explore:

🛩️ AutoSpray Systems – the drone company promising , 20-hectare/hour slug pellet coverage, 30-second pit stops and flight training through Harper Adams University to get farmers flying XAG drones in under a week.

🌿 Crop Angel – flying the flag for DJI spray drones, driven by a desire to have eyes in the sky and the ability to establish cover crops before harvest has even started.

⚡ Garford x RootWave – a serious bit of kit bringing 6000V to precision weed control in the UK and a $15 Million funding milestone for rootwave that is poised to take electric weeding to the next level.

🌱 Zürn – mechanical weed seed harvesting in full swing with the Top Cut Collect weed seed harvesting as well as hammer mill technology that promises to destroy weed seeds as they pass through the combine.

🛠️ And we wrap up with HORSCH – talking direct drills, precision sprayers, and the importance of thinking about profit vs yield in a changing economic climate.

Welcome back to Brash Ag – the farm innovation podcast with your hosts Ray King and Kit Franklin. This week, we’re back on the road (the Fosse way to be precise) – as we reflect on a packed day at the Cereals 2025 show.

From V8-stickered balers to autonomous spot sprayers, we covered a lot of ground (literally and figuratively) and caught up with a diverse mix of exhibitors. In this first instalment, you’ll hear about:

Ceres Engineering – born from barn pushers, now building a whole range of bold, bright-orange, built-to-last implements.

Autonomous Agri Solutions – bringing Austrian AI-powered spot-spraying to UK fields, with weed libraries and precision nozzles that are seriously narrowing the spray gap.

AgXeed's wheeled robot – a 75hp lightweight alternative for those not ready to go full sci-fi with tracks and autonomy.

Soil sampling robots from ARWAC and University of Lincoln – using live CO₂ flux to guide smarter carbon sampling and reduce reliance on traditional coring.

And we wrap it all up with a chat with Kieran Walsh, who joins us to share his own “bale spike item” and thoughts from the show floor.

It’s innovation, autonomy, and a bit of banter — all recorded live from the Landrover Freelander and the fields of Lincolnshire.

This week the co-hosts are on the road heading to Cereals show. Kit and Ray take some time (while travelling the Fosse Way) to talk about Kit’s new business theory “Bale-spikeology” and how start-up agtech companies need to be able to produce products that can sell as quickly as possible to farmers without the need for loans or financing. The pair also take some time to think about the UK agtech and manufacturing sector.

This week the pair talk through Kit's trip to London to attend the New Scientist Emerging Technologies Summit. Kit talks through some of the emerging tech that was showcased and discussed at the Summit. The co-hosts grapple with how quantum computing, AI and fusion energy might begin to change the face of agriculture and make predictions for when the humans can put their feet up and have rest while the machines do all the work.

This week Ray and Kit snapped up the opportunity to chew the cud with Belinda Clarke OBE Director at Agri -TechE. Belinda shared how her early career in Natural sciences and science liaison took her on to build Agri-TechE as a membership organisation from the ground up. 12 years after starting Agri-TechE, Belinda shares some of the lessons she has learned, what the future holds for Agri-TechE and the agtech sector as a whole.

The trio also try to answer one of life's big questions…”What is even is Agritech?”

Where have they been? The pair catch up after a short hiatus and share the exciting work that has been keeping them so busy. The co-hosts also take a few minutes to catch up on some recent government funding updates for the agriculture and agtech sector as well talk about some cool tech in the construction sector and the parallels that it has for farming automation.

WARNING: this episode contains the distilled value and wisdom from an agtech pioneer…do not miss this one.

This week Ray and Kit have bagged an exclusive interview with Chris Chavasse, CEO of company Muddy Machines. Chris shares his personal journey and how he founded a UK based pioneering horticultural robotics company. Chris shares some of the trials and tribulations of running an agtech start-up and the way Muddy Machines has evolved, both its products and business model to deliver value to farmers in ever changing economic conditions. Chris explains the strategy behind the acquisition of Fox Robotics in 2024, how having this intellectual property has opened up new opportunities for Muddy Machines and importantly how their current Crowdfunding campaign will help Muddy machines to unlock the full value of the robotic technology for hundreds of new customers.

#autonomy #robtics #agtech #horticulture #farming #agricultural engineering #startup #UKstartup #crowdfunding

Muddy Machines: https://www.muddymachines.com/

A jam packed episode this week. Kit Franklin takes us on a trip down memory lane with his musings on the evolution of farming in the 1930s. Ray talks about some good news in the UK Agtech funding scene with Crowdfunding announcements from Muddy Machines and Foamstream and their current funding rounds on Crowdcube. We discuss a viral Tesla crash video and the implications it could have in agtech automation and sensor fusion. We discuss the sad demise of FarmWise in the USA and what it could tell us about start-ups in Agtech and what the future could hold for new innovations.

We welcome the new CEO of Innovate UK and discuss our thoughts about what Innovate UK has done to support Agriculture and Agtech in recent years.

Finally we discuss getmeloose.com, a new service starting April 1st from AgXeed…

Farming in the 1930s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcyzAIkMwrg

Tesla vs fake wall: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/U1MigIJXJx8

AgXeed jolly japes: www.getmeloose.com

Foamstream: https://www.weedingtech.com/foamstream/

Muddy Machines: https://www.muddymachines.com/

Chewing the cud with Greg Stewart and Devin Kirk of Geco Strategic Weed Management. This week Kit and Ray get the opportunity to talk to Greg and Devin from Canadian based Geco Strategic weed management about their predictive weed management tool. Devin and Greg share their backgrounds and how they found themselves building a start-up in the weed management space. The pair also share more about the underlying technology, the business case, go to market strategy and what sets Geco apart from other precision ag companies and products. Greg and Devin also share their feelings about market and investor sentiment for agtech and the key to start-up success in challenging times. This is a must listen for anyone interested in the future of weed management, crop protection and some exciting applications for Big data.

Geco website: https://geco-ag.com/

Youtube: Predictive Weed Control - https://youtu.be/ZA4NQV8vVng

Email: [email protected]