GUEST COLUMN:
Marcus Burnham
Founder & CEO
Neurabotics Ltd
Farmers face two very tough challenges today: rising costs and labour shortages. Production has become more expensive, while prices paid by supermarkets have remained flat. At the same time, growers rely heavily on seasonal workers from overseas, and it is becoming harder and costlier to secure that labour.
At Neurabotics, we are applying engineering expertise to help address these issues. Based in Aberystwyth, we are developing an autonomous strawberry harvester designed to reduce labour pressures and cut costs for growers. The machine is a carriage that moves down rows of strawberries grown on tabletops. Two robotic arms, each with a camera and a gripper, identify ripe fruit, pick it, and place it directly into punnets.
Being part of the Agri-tech and Food Technology Cluster for Mid and North Wales has made a decisive difference to how quickly we have been able to develop. Funding from Innovate UK, combined with advice and introductions through AberInnovation and others in the cluster, has allowed us to prove the feasibility of our picking mechanism and move on to working directly with growers. Without that support, progress would have been far slower.
For me, this is also about place. I grew up on a small farm near Machynlleth before studying and working in Manchester for a decade. I always wanted to come back, but opportunities in the kind of development work I enjoy were limited in Mid Wales. Starting Neurabotics has allowed me to return, and I want others to have the same chance.
We have excellent universities here, including Aberystwyth, where students are learning robotics, AI and engineering. Too often those graduates leave for bigger cities because the jobs are elsewhere. If clusters like this help create and grow more businesses, we can keep more of that talent in the region, which strengthens the economy and communities around it.
Our next steps are to refine the harvester with farmers, secure further investment, and then move into production. From there, the technology can be scaled to other fruits and vegetables, supporting more growers in the UK and, eventually, further afield.
This is just one example of what can happen when businesses are given the chance to innovate and grow here. With the right support, more people will be able to live and work in Mid and North Wales while building the kind of companies that agriculture and food production need for the future.
Marcus Burnham talks about this and more in the Unlocking Mid Wales podcast episode Nurturing Innovation in Agri-Tech and Food Technology. Listen to the podcast here.
To find out more about the Agri-tech and Food Technology Cluster for Mid and North Wales visit https://growingmidwales.co.uk/AgriTechFoodTech
