The UK is undergoing an AI revolution, with new investments and projects up and down the country, and farms are the latest to receive an injection of innovation.
Sitting on the border between Worcestershire and Gloucestershire is Overbury Estate, where TechRadar Pro was invited by Virgin Media O2 to see first-hand how 5G, AI, and other connected tech is modernizing farming techniques and keeping farmers connected.
At just over 1,500 hectares, Overbury has a long history of farming to a high standard of environmental stewardship, and prides itself on combining traditional farming techniques with modern technology to produce high quality crops, including wheat, barley, beans, and grass.
Connectivity as a Service
In the latest development, Virgin Media O2 is partnering with River Severn Advanced Wireless Innovation Region (RSPAWIR), to trial cutting edge 5G private networks in agriculture. This technology is being used to improve efficiency and animal welfare, as well as reducing environmental impact.
Overbury has all kinds of fantastic tech that helps take the guesswork out of their operation, like sensors for water troughs, IoT-enabled weather prediction software, and tractor cameras that analyze crops – but it’s all underpinned by the farm’s connectivity.
The farm is tucked up in the Cotswold countryside, a notoriously poorly-connected area, but thanks to its new 5G solutions, it can run a whole private network of devices.
“We’re using the dual 4G and 5G technology here because there’s two types of technology that drive in the sensors,” explains Stephen Sargood, Principal Architect of 5G Private Networks at O2 Business.
“One of them is 4G focus and then 5G for the other. Basically this is connectivity as a service. It means that Jake [Freestone, Overbury Farm Manager] doesn’t have to be an expert on this type of technology.”
This connectivity means crops can be monitored and protected, with cameras analysing the number, location, and species of insects so that farmers know exactly when and where to administer pesticides, helping avoid an over-reliance on harmful chemicals.
“One of the key barriers for farmers to adopt new technologies is the limited digital skills that they have with their staff,” says Andres Cruz Gordon, Business Development Director of 5G Private Networks at Virgin Media O2.
“So what we are trying to do is simplify the adoption of these technologies by taking off that complexity from them. We will manage it on their behalf and they will be in charge of operating the use cases and looking at the information to make the decisions.”
Developing use cases
These sensors and devices run primarily with solar panels, so there’s great potential for the project to be scaled up without racking up huge energy bills.
The sensors allow the farm to collect real-time data and experiment with different solutions and variables to get a deeper understanding of how the climate is changing and the effects on crops, and animals – particularly useful when predicting and protecting from diseases carried by insects,
“So one of the solutions that we installed here has 84 different disease models that can work across 40 different types of crops,” Gordon explains.
“The important thing here is the capability to predict where there could be an outbreak, and when we combine this information with the weather station to know when is the best time to, for example, use pesticides if this is the way or when is the best time for them to intervene.”
Sensors aren’t the only way that tech is being used, with new app developments meaning pictures of plants and crops can be uploaded for analysis of biomass index, number of leaves, the weight, as well as nitrogen levels – and from this, farm hands can work out how much to plant and where.
This helps the farm put a much greater emphasis on environmental practices by making sure the farm can be precise and use practices tailored to the specific soil type and climate type, as well as keeping techniques as natural as possible.
But Freestone doesn’t foresee this affecting staffing levels, or at least not for the time being until the jobs evolve into more tech-based roles.
“I think in 10 or 15 years time we might have automated tractors in the fields, actually doing some of the work for us, but then we will need skilled technicians to maintain and look after and monitor where we go,” he explains.
Whilst it’s clear Overbury is ahead of the curve in terms of tech, agriculture businesses across the country can benefit from the data they collect and from the techniques they deploy. The successes at Overbury will undoubtedly be echoed throughout the industry.
