peri-urban agriculture – Digital Agritech is the trading name of Aylesbeare Food Forest

What is Robot Hayes

What I am doing at Robot Hayes

Dr Toby Mottram FREng, FIAgrE

After a career in farming and engineering I decided I wanted to contribute my expertise to solving the biggest problems in the UK providing fresh, healthy food in a rapidly changing climate. In my opinion UK Government sponsorship of agricultural research has had very little impact on farming and quality food production that has diminished in my lifetime. The reasons for this failure would take an angry book to discuss. I prefer to be active by doing what I think is important on my own land and lead by practical example.

The key things I want to work on are:-

the loss of connection of the people from the ability to grow food
the overuse of agrochemicals
the changing climate particularly in rainfall patterns
the improvement of soil carbon levels
the production of vegetables and fruit throughout the year
reducing the drudgery in field work with robotic tools

In 2022 after a long search during those strange isolational years I managed to buy an unnamed field in Devon. I chose it for its South facing aspect, fertile Pebblebed soil and easy access from a busy main road. It is not far from Exeter and I suspect that in a few years it will effectively be a green island in the suburban sprawl favoured by the District Council.

My first actions were to give the field the name Robot Hayes to reflect my aims, plant shelter belts to reduce wind damage in the long term, install a polytunnel to extend the growing season and a lockup container for tools and seeds. I divided the best part of the land into 48 x 100 sq m allotments and began renting these out to local people. That brings a whole different aspect to the field which I suspect was basically a sheep run and hay field without a single human for 360 days a year.

After adding some solar panels I was able to install a small robot inside the polytunnel to manage the vegetables with image processing and controledl watering and weeding. In the second winter I began planting fruit trees and vines. Of course the first things that happened was a heatwave in 2023 and then a wet wet growing season in 2024. This convinced me more and more that the management of field crops in the UK needs to adapt.

The heavy rain that seems to becoming common is now capable of damaging growing plants and washing away topsoil. Although average temperatures are rising we also get sudden bursts of polar wind that can cause frost damage.

So we need to integrate more rows of sheltering bush perennial crops, shade and rainbreak covers, and ventilated polytunnels. This of course is in addition to planting, growing and weeding without resort to chemical warfare on the environment, while protecting crops from rabbits, deer and insects.

What is Robot Hayes about ?

After two years of hard work it is time to start talking about Robot Hayes

Most British people now get a large proportion of their calories from processed and ultra-processed food and drinks stabilised chemically for a long shelf life and these foods are associated with rising nutritional disorders such as obesity and type 2 Diabetes. The cost and scarcity of labour close to our cities has caused retailers to source “fresh” food from distant areas such as Spain, Peru and so on. The changes to the ecosystems in areas such as Murcia in Spain are dramatic and unsustainable thus reducing food security. Growing our own vegetables and fruits close to the point of consumption has to be a key policy objective for the new government. We need to encourage more local production and the development of labour saving technology and this is what I have set out to do at Robot Hayes.

I have had a long career in agricultural engineering research co-inventing robotic milking, and developing sensors for monitoring dairy cow health and fertility. During the pandemic I sold my two start up businesses and used the money in 2022 to buy a small south facing field with good soil and road access so as to do my part in solving the food crisis which is destroying people’s health. The word Hayes is common in Devon signifying an enclosure or field so as I will develop and test robots here I gave it that name.

I now rent out 100 sq m allotments to local people to grow whatever they want. . The allotment system has been around in the UK for centuries but fell into the hands of local authorities who have been slow to respond to the huge demand for people to grow their own food. Allotment areas have long waiting lists even as some plots fall into disuse. A mature allotment area is often the most biodiverse area in the urban environment. There are hundreds of people on the waiting lists for allotments nearby. In the area East of the M5 at Exeter eight thousand (8000) new houses and flats are planned to join the 1000s already being built at Cranbrook with tiny gardens within a couple of miles of my field.

The enthusiasm of my dozen or so gardeners is overwhelming and a genuine community spirit is developing with many young families. I love the sound of children’s voices as they play in the gardens. Already we have buzzards and owls flying over as the vole and field mice populate the uncultivated fringes of woodland that I have planted and herons look for prey in the ponds. I daresay some existing locals will dislike the visual intrusion and prefer vast empty fields of commodity crops. More farmers should offer allotments, it doesn’t require planning permission and has a margin per hectare ten times that of cereals.

A view of a vegetable garden surrounded by insect prevention nets — One of our newly established allotments

I retain a number of plots for myself so that I can develop systems to make organic vegetable production less labour intensive. No-one enjoys weeding vegetables, it is back breaking and continuous during the growing season. Our rental contracts are based on the typical local authority contract but with more flexibility and we have a few site rules such as no chemical pesticides or fertiliser so the emphasis is on innovating organic types of husbandry.

I bought and installed my first robot in a polytunnel in 2023. It is an open source design from farmBot in California using a Raspberry Pi computer running in the Python language and has many features that I have not had a chance to explore yet. I mostly use it for watering and hoeing and this winter I hope to demonstrate fresh vegetable production in our mild Devon climate. It needs to run in a polytunnel raised bed to protect its electroonics and aluminium drive rails from the weather. Because of its precision I think I will focus on raising seedlings of exotics (peppers and spices etc) in pots for planting out in the spring. With my hard won expertise I think we can start offering robotically managed polytunnels to hotels and restaurants and private houses locally to grow their own organic produce with minimal labour. I need to find a business partner who can focus on developing that business.

A view into a polytunnel with vegetables in straing rows with a gantry robot in the middle — The first robot at Robot Hayes was bought from farmBot and installed in a polytunnel

Polytunnels have their place but we can grow a lot in open field situations and this is the focus of my engineering activity this year. I currently have a Defra funded Farm Innovation grant managed by InnovateUK to develop safer working practices for horticulture. I cannot say too much as some of the technology that I and my small team are developing will be patented. Our focus is to convert existing tractors to be more precise and safe. Modern SatNav systems can accurately position a hoe blade to within a centimetre of a target, which means that we can develop sowing and weeding systems that do not require manual labour. Cutting and porting vegetables is still very labour intensive, often on muddy winter fields so we need safety systems that will stop a machine if someone is in danger. Farm accidents with moving machinery are still common and we need new technology to reduce risks.

Vegetables in a changing climate

Devon has a very mild climate with summer heat and winter chill moderated by the sea but even here we see the climate changing. This June it was so hot that my clay soil dried out to dust after a wet winter, temperatures in the polytunnel went over 50C. As for rain we seem to get showers so heavy that they smash plants and wash out any exposed soil.

I would love a greenhouse as the technology has advanced hugely and makes a perfect platform for robotic management even down to picking and packing vegetables but the capital costs are huge (say £20k for 100 sq m) and running costs subject to uncontrollable fuel cost variations.

So I need more flexible methods of controlling the exposure of plants to the elements at a reasonable cost. At the Venice Biennale I saw a very interesting exhibit of Taiwanese farm buildings evolved to manage their high value fruit and vegetable crops in semi tropical latitudes but with mountains that have cold and snowy conditions. They also get typhoons with very high winds and extreme rainfall.

This summer I used a tarpaulin over the polytunnel to reduce the solar exposure but this is a temporary and difficult to manage option. A polytunnel can of course be adapted with different covers and ventilation but it is hard to change the covering as we bury the sides in soil to stop the wind blowing the covers away.

Figure 1: Model of a fruit farm growing under a frame with an extendable shade/rain filter cover

The Taiwanese style is to create a rigid frame maybe 2.4 m (8’) above ground with tensile wire between the rigid frames that can support crops like tomatoes and beans and also provide a guide and support for covers that can be winched into position as required. I am going to try and experiment with these next season to understand the practicalities. We don’t get typhoons in Devon but we get a lot of wind and periodic heavy rain. I think I will use a mesh of plastic to allow rain to percolate and shade to stop severe burning.

a model of a vegetable plot cover by a permeable cover about 2.4 m above the crop

Robot Hayes allotments

I am renting out 100 sq m allotments on a gentle south facing slope of Pebblebeds soil on the west edge of Aylesbeare, Devon. The field has been a sheep run and hayfield for many years and not treated with chemicals. I bought it last year as place to develop new techniques in robotic horticulture and I have created 48 plots that I rent out on allotment style leases, many are still available at £60 a year (incl VAT). I have planted shelter belts and dug water holding ponds around the perimeter which will provide a wild life zone and shelter belts in due course. My aim is to create a community food resource over the years. This winter I will plant more trees including some exotic fruits and nuts as our weather is changing to hotter and wetter conditions and we need to adapt. Contact me if you are interested. Instagram @robothayes linkedin.com/in/tobymottramdigitalagritech

Pebblebeds soil
south facing slope
Mains water
Main road access and parking off A3052
Close to Nine Oaks bus stop (9,9A)
One robot installed in polytunnel, another in development
what3words: perplexed.picture.dusters

Food shortages caused by flooding

trucks in floods — Photo by Jéan Béller on Unsplash

The globalised trading network that grew up with the rise of China and the collapse of the Soviet Empire has massively changed where food and other goods are produced in relation to their markets. However, the fragility of this network was brought home during the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftershocks. For my business two packages shipped in March 2020 were stuck in airports and customs facilities for months causing a loss of major customers. Similarly, sudden changes in politics such as Brexit and the invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctioning of criminal gangs led to major disruptions to fresh food trade in UK and the Black Sea trade in grains to Africa and the Middle East. These political driven disruptions will be overcome but a more fundamental long term threat is disruption to food supply due to climate change.

In 2023 there have been major storms and floods that have damaged the transport infrastructure in numerous places. Countries around the world have seen major floods with smashed bridges, washed out roads and huge damage to croplands in China, Greece, Libya, Slovenia to name a few (www.floodlist.com) . Climate change is bringing more intense rainstorms driven by a more dynamic atmospheric hydrological cycle. These lead to flash floods particularly in urban areas where water cannot be absorbed by non-porous surfaces. The world’s most productive land is often situated in riverine and coastal littorals that are at greater risk than ever of flooding.

The disruption to fresh food supply is particularly a risk as the products are perishable and need to be delivered within a minimum few days of harvest via a cold chain network. A disruption of a few days is a serious matter and thus it will become more important to develop short supply chains to reduce the risk of disruption. This is a strong argument for local peri-urban horticulture.