Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Farming Today

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside

BBC Radio 4 LW

Farming Today: Agricultural Technology

Farming Today This Week

Agricultural Technology

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Agricultural Technology

From robot pickers to precision pest control, the future of farming is high-tech.

From robot pickers and smart water management systems to precision pest control, the future of farming is high-tech: but what exactly will it look like?

All this week on Farming Today, we've been discussing the future of farming - and that is going to involve a whole lot of technology.
But what might that gadget-filled world might look like?

Charlotte heads to Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre - or Agri-EPI Centre - at Cranfield University, to find out.

She hears from Agri-EPI Centre chief executive David Ross, on their remit to drive agri-food innovation; and meets up with Jane Rickson from Cranfield's Soil and Agrifood Institute, to hear more about the site and check out one of their biggest pieces of kit...

Dr Daniel Simms, a specialist in remote sensing, shows Charlotte round the on-site glasshouse, that has a robotic gantry measuring every detail of the crops being trialled within its glass walls; and on a visit to the laboratory, Dr Natalia Falagan discusses how technology can help address food waste, from farm to fork.


Meanwhile Anna Louise Walter visits horticultural research centre NIAB EMR's orchard in East Malling, to find out about a new project to develop technology that could revolutionise spring for apple growers; and Josh Henretig, Microsoft's senior director for AI for Earth and sustainability, explains why they've branched out into agricultural technology.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Lucy Taylor.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Farming Today

Agricultural Technology

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4