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Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
Tue, 8 Jan 2019 06:53:39 +0000
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*Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*

*for sustainable agriculture and land management*

Dear Subscribers,

Please see herebelow some interesting news about No-Till Robots.

*Amir Kassam *

*Moderator*

*Global CA-CoP*

e-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca



*Conservation Agriculture is an ecosystem approach to regenerative
sustainable agriculture and land management based on the practical
application of context-specific and locally adapted three interlinked
principles of: (i) Continuous no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance
(no-till seeding/planting and weeding, and minimum soil disturbance with
all other farm operations including harvesting);  (ii) permanent
maintenance of soil mulch cover (crop biomass, stubble and cover crops);
and (iii) diversification of cropping system (economically, environmentally
and socially adapted rotations and/or sequences and/or associations
involving annuals and perennials, including legumes and cover crops), along
with other complementary good agricultural production and land management
practices. Conservation Agriculture systems are present in all continents,
involving rainfed and irrigated systems including annual cropland systems,
perennial systems, orchards and plantation systems, agroforestry systems,
crop-livestock systems, pasture and rangeland systems, organic production
systems and rice-based systems. Conservation Tillage and Minimum Tillage
are not Conservation Agriculture, and nor is No-Till on its own *(more at:
www.fao.org/ag/ca).


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Groundswell Agriculture <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, Jan 7, 2019 at 6:14 PM
Subject: Join the Small Robot Revolution!
To: <[log in to unmask]>


View this email in your browser
<https://mailchi.mp/5a46a27a81dd/join-the-small-robot-revolution?e=cc65f60c27>
Join the Small Robot Revolution!
by Sam Watson Jones, co-founder and fourth generation farmer, Small Robot
Company
It’s been a tremendous year for our small robots. A year ago, I launched
our Small Robot concept
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=e83054d474&e=cc65f60c27>
at an Oxford Farming Conference fringe event. Here, I introduced our Tom,
Dick and Harry farming robots to the farming community. I unveiled our
Farming as a Service concept, explaining how our no-till robots will farm
arable crops autonomously, with no waste.

We met many of you then at Groundwell, where we were looking for farmers to
join our Farmer Advisory Group. And we’re happy to say that several of you
did indeed join. It is vital to ensure that, as we develop our new model
for sustainable farming - and a new way of thinking about and managing our
farms - that we are, like Groundswell, “by farmers, for farmers”.

We have made phenomenal progress
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=c59f70aef0&e=cc65f60c27>.
Today, we have three prototype robots, three patents pending, and an AI
that can already distinguish Wheat from Weeds. We are now working with 20
farms across the UK, including the Waitrose Leckford Estate farm
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=11bc7cb7c6&e=cc65f60c27>
and The National Trust
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=bca422a686&e=cc65f60c27>
Wimpole Estate farm.

<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=b877d5ea78&e=cc65f60c27>
*Andrew Hoad, Partner & Head of the Leckford Estate, Waitrose & Partners
with Tom monitoring robot prototype*

*"We work hard to farm in harmony with the environment and our vision for
sustainable farming is aligned to what the Small Robot Company is trying to
achieve. This new technology could be revolutionary for British farming." *

Within minutes of launching our Crowdcube equity crowdfunding
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=f9ece1a13e&e=cc65f60c27>
campaign just before Christmas, we had already achieved our initial goal of
£500,000. This success was overwhelmingly due to backing from the farming
community. Now our campaign is gathering momentum to reach our stretch
target.

We would like to invite you also to become part of this Small Robot
Revolution. With just one week to go, this is the last chance to be
involved in our mission to change farming forever.

Much of our thinking has come directly from farmers telling us about the
problems they are facing and the things that they think are important.
These conversations are at the core of why Small Robot Company exists. I am
a farmer, and we will always place solving problems for farmers right at
the centre of everything we do.

<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=4eddbc554a&e=cc65f60c27>
*Our Harry prototype no-till digital drilling robot was unveiled in
November at Agritech REAP*

*Harry, a 1.8 metre-square spider-shaped robot, compactly folds and unfurls
to provide farmers with a driverless, super accurate drill that
punch-plants seeds at a uniform depth, making minimal soil disturbance. *

We’ve been highly successful at getting the message that ‘farming needs to
change’ out into the world, with coverage on BBC News
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=d5eaa3adfa&e=cc65f60c27>,
BBC Farming Today
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=4fbbd15a07&e=cc65f60c27>,
the Sunday Telegraph, in The Guardian
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=25e0fde0c9&e=cc65f60c27>
(also republished in the Week), Farmers Weekly
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=b04dbb7d00&e=cc65f60c27>,
Crop Production Magazine
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=203448327e&e=cc65f60c27>,
the Economist
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=b96f0b56ba&e=cc65f60c27>
and in lots of other places too.

As a result, we’ve discovered that it is not just farmers who care about
farms being more productive and kinder to the environment. People who may
never have set foot on a commercial farm have been getting in touch to say
that they care about how soil is managed and how crops are grown because
they, like us, are worried about how we’re going to feed the world in the
future. Which is why we have decided to launch our Crowdcube campaign.

Crowdcube is a crowdfunding website which gives anyone the opportunity to
own shares in Small Robot Company and to be part of this exciting journey.
All shares are priced at the same rate, so you really can come in at
whatever level you feel comfortable. I am also legally obliged to mention
that investments of this nature carry risks to your capital as well as
potential rewards.

With this funding, we will build robust robots for commercial trials across
the UK in 2021. This includes our no-till digital planting robot Harry
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=b77ae5db9d&e=cc65f60c27>,
whose prototype we unveiled at Agritech REAP.

Looking ahead, 2019 will be a great year to be a farmer. The digital
revolution is gaining pace, and within five years will be mainstream at
scale. Small is for the future.

We’re looking forward to you joining the Small Robot revolution!

<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=d098b80e10&e=cc65f60c27>
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=230c59851d&e=cc65f60c27>
<https://groundswellag.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4a6b5710701fe7563d2e6a429&id=1b1f31923e&e=cc65f60c27>
*Copyright © 2019 Groundswell Agriculture Ltd, All rights reserved.*
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