A blog from Steve Brewer, Place Based Impact Senior Research Associate at the University of Lincoln and member of the LINCAM project team.

In addition to being a major contributor to the UK’s food production, Greater Lincolnshire and the North Cambridgeshire fens, form the ‘Lincam’ project region I work in to support, and is also host to many new agricultural technologies that can help transform the region into becoming a leader in global innovation for food.

The region has seen some very positive success stories over the last few years building on a strong history of food production and agricultural innovation.

This has partially happened because of a strong collaboration ethos which extends amongst businesses, civic partners like the LEPs, the universities of Lincoln and Cambridge, and politicians connected by geography or special interest.

One example of this is the success of Spalding-based international fresh produce company, Melon&Co, led by Justin Szymborski, a supply chain business that seamlessly optimises the sourcing and delivery of fresh produce across the world and across seasons.

Melon&Co benefited from a UK Government funded project called Trusted Bytes that brought together partners from across the region and beyond including the University of Lincoln Institute for Agrifood Technology, BSI, the Satellite Applications Catapult, Contained.io, and UK Fresh Produce Network (ukFPN) Lincolnshire.

The result of this two-year project was a trusted data-enabled collaboration network that delivered greater resilience and efficiencies in food supply chains.  The digital platform that enabled this was driven by Contained.io’s Blue Ring platform and was enhanced by the trustworthy data sharing framework approach led by the University of Lincoln.

However, a key enabler of this sector spanning collaboration project was the role of the UK Fresh Produce Network (ukFPN) Lincolnshire, largely thanks to the late Angie Stuart whose energy and dynamic leadership has left a powerful legacy for her successor Tammy Doughty and the rest of the region.

Building on previous achievements from the Universities of Lincoln and Cambridge, a new four-year initiative has recently been established to fund and support the UK’s academic research community to contribute to the region’s growth.  The Lincam Ceres-Agri-Tech iniative is a Place-Based Impact Accelerator Account (PBIAA) which means that the scheme will contribute significantly to improving the region.  The support comes from the Government’s levelling up agenda via the UK Research and Innovation funding stream.

The choice of Greater Lincolnshire and North Cambridgeshire was motivated by the unique mix of need and opportunity.  The area is already a major player in the food production system but as is the case globally, food presents us with multiple challenges including cost, value, nutrition, waste, sustainability, provenance, traceability, and skills.  In other words, if we can help address the environmental and economic challenges of better food supply here, then we don’t just help our country, but we potentially develop knowledge that will be needed around the world.

Whilst the region possesses all the elements needed to build a better future for UK food production – business, freight and logistics, research, leadership, land and people – we need to collaborate and work together to ensure that the infrastructure grows proportionately.  We need the universities and colleges to deliver a skilled and re-skilled workforce, and we need telecommunications, energy and water (at least water management) and political and civic leadership to work together to create the environment for growth.

There are already various networks and groups sharing ideas and plans, which is great for the future. But if we are to build a thriving agriculture and food production cluster in the way that Cambridge has done for technology, we need to keep talking, and listening, and harness the best of our ideas and skills to overcome obstacles with innovation.

What can you do?  

The Lincam Ceres-Agri-Tech initiative has been established to act as a catalyst for greater success in this region.  Over the next four years we will be funding research and innovation from academic researchers across all scientific and technical disciplines.  To do this we need to better understand the challenges that growers in the region face both now and in the future.  The aim is to support the crop-based production sector and its supply chains in terms of concurrent economic, environmental and/or social benefits.  We need to know from you more about the challenges relating to energy efficiency, soil sustainability, and labour productivity, and other barriers to the adoption of innovation.  To gather these insights, we will be hosting various events to enable these conversations.  Watch this space!