The end of the beginning

Early in 2023, Elaniti, Rothamsted Research and Camgrain Stores were fortunate to be awarded funding from Innovate UK to explore the feasibility of developing machine learning-enabled decision support tools for farmers.

Rothamsted Research is the longest-running agricultural research institution in the world. Its foundation dates from 1843 when John Bennet Lawes, the owner of the Rothamsted Estate, appointed Joseph Henry Gilbert, a chemist, as his scientific collaborator and planted the first of what were to become the classical Rothamsted long term experiments. The scientific partnership between Lawes and Gilbert lasted 57 years, and together they laid the foundations of modern scientific agriculture and established the principles of crop nutrition.

Camgrain Stores meanwhile, developed in 1983 by a group of farmers, provides a reliable, safe and secure co-operative grain storage facility to our farmer members. With industry beating drying and conditioning rates, member's crops are blended to meet specifications required for premium markets.

Ultimately this collaboration has proved wholly successful, with the feasibility of several ML approaches demonstrated to ‘proof of concept’ level, laying the foundations for deeper analysis and future collaborations.