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Defra Minister Dame Angela Eagle Visits UK Agri-Tech Centre's Midlands Innovation Hub
Defra Minister Dame Angela Eagle visited the UK Agri-Tech Centre's Midlands Innovation Hub to explore innovative agri-tech solutions by companies like MagrowTec and UPP. The visit coincided with the launch of the Centre's "Grow Your Own Way" campaign, highlighting agri-tech's role in driving economic growth, sustainability, and resilience in the agricultural sector.
The UK Agri-Tech Centre, a key player in advancing the agri-tech sector, has hosted Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) Minister Dame Angela Eagle at its Midlands Agri-Tech Innovation Hub. The visit highlights the Centre’s vital role in supporting the growth and success of agri-tech businesses across the UK.
During her visit, Minister Eagle is introduced to innovative companies such as MagrowTec and Upcycled Plant Protein (UPP), which are testing, trialling, and commercialising groundbreaking agri-tech solutions. These companies are at the forefront of transforming agricultural practices, and their work exemplifies the UK Agri-Tech Centre’s commitment to advancing the sector.
The UK Agri-Tech Centre, through its collaboration with Defra, is helping to drive the UK Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy. This strategy identifies agri-tech as a key pillar for boosting national productivity and resilience, aiming to modernise farming practices and increase sustainability.
The role of the UK Agri-Tech centre in driving economic growth
The visit coincides with the launch of the Centre's national campaign, "Grow Your Own Way: We Mean Business When it Comes to Agri-Tech". This campaign celebrates agri-tech innovators who are pushing the boundaries of automation, robotics, data and sensors, controlled environment agriculture (CEA), and engineering biology. These pioneers are bringing their innovations to market, contributing to economic growth in the UK and globally.
Connecting the Agri-Tech ecosystem at Harper Adams University
The Minister’s visit forms part of a wider tour of the Harper Adams University campus, where the Midlands Innovation Hub is based. This hub acts as a central point for agri-tech innovation, bringing together a diverse network of partners and organisations. It serves as the ‘connective tissue’ for the entire agri-tech ecosystem, providing a collaborative environment for the growth of agri-tech ventures.
Hannah Senior, Interim CEO of the UK Agri-Tech Centre, expressed her enthusiasm about the Minister’s visit, stating, "Our dedicated facilities at this site help businesses accelerate their journey to the marketplace. It has been brilliant to be part of the success story of UPP and MagrowTec since they joined us here. In addition to providing UPP with facilities, we are helping them undertake in-field test and trial via our farm network; they are scaling and have recently raised £3million, driving their commercial growth.”
She further noted, "The technologies these ventures are bringing to market will drive improvements in profitability, resilience and long-term sustainability for agriculture, horticulture and aquaculture across the UK and internationally."
Accelerating the journey to market for Agri-Tech innovators
The UK Agri-Tech Centre’s dedicated facilities at the Innovation Hub are instrumental in accelerating the journey of businesses to market. MagrowTec and UPP, two tenants of the Hub, are great examples of how the Centre is helping agri-tech ventures grow.
UPP has recently raised £3 million in funding, enabling them to scale their operations. The Centre provides UPP with the necessary facilities and access to a farm network for in-field testing and trials, which are crucial to their commercial growth.
About UPP
UPP is revolutionising the food production sector by providing food manufacturers with hypoallergenic, nutritionally dense, and vegan ingredients. The company focuses on reducing the environmental impact of food production, including lowering CO₂ emissions and food miles. UPP’s innovative technology uses robotics, computer vision, and AI to automate harvesting, which allows them to process 'sidestream' (such as stems, stalks, and waste heads) that would otherwise go to waste, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
UPP’s mission is to transform the $16 billion alternative protein market by reducing food waste, improving sustainability, and decreasing CO₂ emissions on a large scale. The company also shares some of the value derived from the sidestream with farmers, improving their financial sustainability. By creating high-value products from previously wasted materials, UPP is helping farmers, manufacturers, and consumers alike.
About MagrowTec
MagrowTec is at the forefront of agricultural innovation, developing cutting-edge solutions that help farmers increase productivity while minimising environmental impact. The company is dedicated to enhancing sustainability and efficiency in farming, using the latest technologies to optimise input use and reduce time spent on farming tasks.
With a strong focus on sustainability, MagrowTec is helping farmers across the world achieve greater efficiency, paving the way for more sustainable farming practices globally.
