First Base Solutions Ltd, a data technology company helping farmers increase crop yield and farm profitability, is working with Hartpury’s Home Farm as the latest demonstration site for its operations software, Live Farmer.
The company, established in 1994, are using one of the innovative work spaces at Hartpury's Tech Box Park, which is part of a Digital Innovation Farm, to develop and adapt new technologies for the farming industry. It's also an ideal base to showcase their Live Farmer farm management software to the region's farmers and farmers of the future - Hartpury students.
Currently being used by growers and producers of fresh produce and plants with over 400 installations across Europe, UK, Australia and New Zealand, the Live Farmer technology is helping farmers better manage their farms.
The innovative cloud-based farm management system enables farm owners, farm managers, agronomists and packhouse managers to manage their farms in real-time and use live data and costings to make better farming decisions.
Their recently launched Crop Booster Device is a transmitter that uses bio physics to improve the health, photosynthesis and nutrition absorption of plants, typically improving fruit and vegetable crop yields up to 20% - 30% and even up to 900% on certain fodder crops.
Steve Bradstock, MD at First Base Solutions Ltd and Live Farmer, said:
“With Live Farmer, you can see crops in real time and track all your resources. This means you can manage all aspects of the farm much more efficiently and make informed decisions when it comes to labour, machinery, and even the weather – and be as productive as possible with your time.”
“The UK’s exit from Europe and difficulty in getting labour, fertilisers, and other agricultural products through the winter months has really shocked the UK farming industry into realising that they need to grow crops all year round. The only way they can do that is by utilising technology, capital investment, artificial intelligence, and robotics along with new forms of energy.”
“As a company we are highly innovative. Whether it’s using drone technology to scare pigeons or detect pests in crops, killing pathogens using UV Lighting, or developing sand heat storage energy solutions to take farms towards zero carbon. We hope that all our technologies will have a significant impact on the industry.
Catherine Briggs, Tech Box Park Centre Manager, said: “We’re delighted to welcome First Base Solutions to the Hartpury Tech Box Park and very much look forward to supporting them with the development, testing, and showcasing of their innovative and exciting new products for the farming and land-based industries across Gloucestershire and beyond.”
Hartpury’s Tech Box Park facility, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the GFirst LEP ‘Getting Building Fund’, and the Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust, is dedicated to enabling the growth of innovative local businesses looking to develop new or existing products and accelerate them into the agriculture market.
Hartpury’s 10-year vision is to become a Digital Innovation Farm. Students can carry out research and build critical skills for their future careers in the Agri-Tech Centre while agri-businesses can research, develop and accelerate products to market at the Tech Box Park.
Hartpury’s 10-year vision is to become a Digital Innovation Farm. Student can carry out research and build critical skills for their future careers in our Agri-Tech Centre (phase one; launched in 2019), while agri-businesses can research, develop and accelerate products to market in our Tech Box Park (phase two; opened in 2022).
