As of Thursday 1st February 2024, Emerald Research Ltd (ERL) has moved in to their new head office, based at the University of Hartpury’s Agri-Tech Centre, a progressive facilitator within the field of applied agricultural innovation.
ERL’s CEO, Simon Fox, has chosen the Hartpury’s Agri-Tech Centre base because of its innovative environment and skill base that have been fundamental in facilitating the commercialisation of research into on-farm practices.
Simon commented that he had been drawn to Hartpury’s Agri-Tech Centre for some time “Because of its unique blend of agri-technology and real on-farm user knowledge.” He went on to say: “ERL has seen several successes recently: being part of the Transformative Reduced Inputs in Potatoes (TRIP) project consortium which won Innovate UK funding for 70% funding of a £2.4m project last spring and exhibiting at Cereals and the British Potato event in 2023. It became clear that 2024 was the right time for ERL to set up a permanent office at Hartpury’s Agri-tech Centre as this seems to be a very natural fit.”
ERL is an agricultural biotechnology focused company, carrying out research, trials and development into soil science, crop nutrition and software engineering in collaboration with many of the UK’s leading soil, crop and agricultural organisations, including Dyson Farming Research, Bangor University and the James Hutton Institute.
The results of forty-five years of research have been commercialised into the OptiYield System a complete soil health and crop performance system that harnesses digital agronomic tools to deliver advanced proprietary crop input programmes for agronomists and farmers.
All the products within the OptiYield range of biostimulants, microbials, foliar nutrients and fertilisers have been developed through laboratory, strip and field trials, culminating in commercial on-farm assessments. This ensures not just bioactive efficacy but straightforward integration into existing cropping regimes and real life on-farm financials.
OptiYield enables farmers and growers to make more informed and environmentally positive input decisions, improving yields, reducing waste in terms of excess inputs and ‘out of spec’ crops, optimising both environmental and financial sustainability.
Simon concludes: “With current forecasts, the coming few months are looking very positive for ERL with new product formulations and launches, as well as the second season’s TRIP potato trials. All running alongside the continued development and expansion of the OptiYield system, 2024 is looking very busy – a nice problem to have!”
Pictured below – Left to right – Helen Holman – Head of Communications and Marketing, Didier Mulot- CEO Business Development and Simon Fox – Founder, Soil Scientist, Agronomist and Crop nutrition Specialist outside the new office at Hartpury Agri-Tech Centre
