Episodes

  • Pod 1 - What its all about?

    Pod 1 - What its all about?
    Aug 29 2024
    Ray and Kit introduce themselves and the Brash Ag podcast, and give a flavour for 'What its all about'. In coming episodes Kit and Ray will be getting their hands dirty, "Digging deep" into the technology of new agtech, "Chewing the cud" with guests, and exploring "Cash cow" business models.
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    11 mins
  • Pod 2 - Who is Raymond King?

    Pod 2 - Who is Raymond King?
    Aug 29 2024
    Kit takes the reins and interviews Ray about his career, all the way from school to today. Ray shares some of his motivations behind becoming an engineer and how his career has taken him around the world. Ray talks about what drew him back to agricultural engineering after working in aerospace engineering and what it was like working for the robotics start-up Small Robot Company.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Pod 3 - Who is Kit Franklin?

    Pod 3 - Who is Kit Franklin?
    Aug 29 2024
    Kit takes the hot seat and Ray interviews Kit. Kit talks about how his background and experiences on the family farm lead him to pursue a masters in agricultural engineering and how he saw the chance to make a difference in the world through academia and the role he played in launching the Hands Free Hectare project at Harper Adams.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Pod 5 - Cash Cow: Farming as a Service

    Pod 5 - Cash Cow: Farming as a Service
    Sep 5 2024
    In this ‘Cash cow’ episode, Ray and Kit discuss service based business models in agriculture, explaining what Farming as a Service means for both farmers and technology manufacturers and where the pitfalls and benefits can be found for both sides of the deal. Ray draws on his experiences in a robotics start-up and Kit explains his thoughts about the rise of ‘as a Service’ models in farming and how the concept may be much older than everyone thinks… Ray’s FaaS LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/flynt-technology_raas-robotics-agtech-activity-7160202919034634242-ihoY?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
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    56 mins
  • Pod 4 - Digging Deep: Non chemical crop protection

    Pod 4 - Digging Deep: Non chemical crop protection
    Sep 4 2024
    In this Digging Deep episode, Kit and Ray discuss non-chemical crop protection, from what farmers did before agrochemicals to the way in which agrochemicals proliferated into agriculture during the ‘Green revolution’ and how consumers are starting to put pressure on farmers to move away from agrochemicals. Kit and Ray explore some of the challenges and opportunities that agricultural engineers and technologists are being faced with to help farmers cut down their chemical inputs and the different technologies that are making it all possible. Ray’s LinkedIn article on non-chemical weed control https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/future-non-chemical-weeding-technology-raymond-king-ceng-miagre-ivjpe/?trackingId=zfLqtcAETgeuJPe7mxqglw%3D%3D Recommended book: Non-chemical weed management: Principles, Concepts and Technology M.K Upadhyaya and R.E. Blackshaw ISBN 978-1845932909 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Non-Chemical-Weed-Management-Principles-Technology/dp/1845932900 Recommended Research papers: Computer-Vision-based Hoe Guidance for Cereals — an Initial Trial by N.D. Tillett, and T. Hague https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0021863499904584 A Mathematical Model of the Kinematics of a Rotating Disc for Inter- and Intra-row Hoeing by M.J. ODogherty, R.J. Godwin, A.P. Dedousis, J.L. Brighton, N.D. Tillett https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1537511006003369
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • Pod 6 - Digging Deep: How you gonna power that?

    Pod 6 - Digging Deep: How you gonna power that?
    Sep 23 2024
    In this Digging deep episode, Kit and Ray discuss how the farming operations of the future might be powered from electricity and batteries to methane and hydrogen. Ray explains how farming of the past was powered and how there could be some unexpected parallels with the farming of the future and Kit discusses the role that automation can play in enabling new fuels and power sources in agriculture along with some of the reasons that diesel has been the go to fuel for so long. BioFactory: https://biofactory.energy/ Ray’s article about the potential for remote battery energy storage for agricultural robotics https://www.linkedin.com/posts/flynt-technology_ev-agtech-robotics-activity-7174077806698491904-oT85?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop Link to Northern Industrial Battery Services https://www.nibsltd.com/ Link to Fendt’s e100 tractor https://www.fendt.com/int/agricultural-machinery/e-tractors/fendt-e100-v-vario Link to John Deere cable power tractor https://www.tuckwells.com/electric-tractor-powered-by-cable/
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Pod 7 - Digging Deep: Could autonomy be the silver bullet for farming’s problems?

    Pod 7 - Digging Deep: Could autonomy be the silver bullet for farming’s problems?
    Sep 30 2024
    In this digging deep episode Kit unearths the history and ethos behind the hands free hectare. Ray explains how the research work of Professor Simon Blackmore inspired the founders of Small Robot Company to get started. The co-hosts discuss some of the huge opportunities that autonomy can offer soil heath, input precision, energy consumption, economics and time and how self driving farm machinery could be the silver bullet for some of farming's biggest challenges. Link to HFHa autonomous farming paper https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351914854_Economics_of_autonomous_equipment_for_arable_farms Link to IAgrE Robotics SIG - A tribute to Professor Simon Blackmore - His Lasting Legacy https://youtu.be/ZKVwaIzlOQg?si=kP3lyrEKYcNUYPZa Link to BS 8646:2023 Use of autonomous mobile machinery in agriculture and horticulture. Code of practice https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/projects/2022-00272#/section Link to Hands Free Farm website https://www.handsfree.farm/ Link to Sabanto Ag autonomous farming company https://sabantoag.com/ Link to FarmDroid https://farmdroid.com/
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    1 hr and 28 mins
  • Pod 8 - Cash Cow: Start up or sell out?

    Pod 8 - Cash Cow: Start up or sell out?
    Oct 9 2024
    In this cash cow episode the co-hosts go head to head to debate the value of startups in agricultural technology. Ray explains the origins of startup businesses and how the venture capital industry evolved and talks about his experience working in multiple UK based startups. Kit talks about his interactions with startup companies through the Hands Free Hectare project and how he thinks maybe it's all “trendy glass corner offices” in Shoreditch. Ray explains how startups present engineers with some of the most exciting and engaging problems to solve and how startups are vital to revolutionising industries. Maybe there is space for a farmer backed fund that can support early stage agricultural technology startups with cash and knowhow…Could this be the start of the Brash Ag Fund? Link to Chip Wars book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chip-War-Worlds-Critical-Technology/dp/B0B4F8J11H/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MM7BIIACBE6X&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ghLPSvcMfsS0G7IO9EIjYocmt31NI2hx3PtdOi34edCTw8jkHpdjUt9XwCEyFEdMwqei9ue14MI634MMoVeSbmtARFoG5pDrcnEIi_4mfJQkB6WVIGPxKj0YXwvdGUuxCmZEYcMVWUcVkDZWboQMuDSqZ9x6DiBz_mZWgFF-It5IlCKJYHYEW9YzBzA5W8jVm12uIcQKtKXg3mtTzWbE1L13nSYsgtodJ02UGfadfPY.WqmyuWsr7zdsDndfaTbT23FQyjX_vx3Um83iiYlLJJo&dib_tag=se&keywords=chip+war&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1728066496&s=books&sprefix=chip+war%2Cstripbooks%2C142&sr=1-1 Link to Secrets of Sand Hill Road book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-Sand-Hill-Road-Venture/dp/059308358X Link to the Trantor Story: https://trantortractors.wordpress.com/ Link to Agfunder article about Venture Capital in Agtech: https://agfundernews.com/the-venture-capital-model-is-still-suitable-for-agtech-sort-o
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    1 hr and 4 mins