64th Oxford Farming Conference
The Oxford Farming Conference Research
in association with
Volac and BBSRC:
Agricultural research needs and priorities:
survey findings from the food and farming
industry
Facilitator
OFC Research in association with:
Professor David Leaver
3/24/2016
1
Introduction
The Oxford Farming Conference, in association with dairy nutrition
company Volac and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council, has commissioned leading market research
specialists National Farm Research Unit and IGD to gather the views of
UK farmers the UK food industry on the future needs of agricultural
science.
The following are the results of the IGD food industry survey
OFC Research in association with:
Annual UK spending on agricultural science R&D
Organisation
R&D spend (£)
Government
£264 million*
Defra
£65 million
Scottish Government
£30 million
Northern Ireland
£7 million
BBSRC
Ca £150 million
Funding Council support for universities
£12 million
Technology strategy board (new for 2010)
Expected to be >£80million over 5 years (£16 million/year)
Trade
£56 million+
UK Agricultural Supply Industry
£45 million+
UK plant breeders
£10-£12 million
Farmers
£29 million
AHDB levy payer funding
£22.6 million (HGCA £5.5m HDC £4.7M EBLEX £4.6M DairyCo
£3.1M Potato Council £2.66M BPEX £2.1M)
Farmer membership organisations (e.g. TAG)
Ca £3 million
Agricultural charities
Ca £3.5 million
*Potential total for 2010 - £280 million (Based on previous spending plus £16M from Technology Strategy Board)
OFC Research in association with:
Annual UK spending on agricultural science R&D
Overall estimated total on agricultural science R&D for 2010
£365 million
(based on previous spending plus Technology Strategy Board
funding)
OFC Research in association with:
IGD Survey Contents
IGD Survey
• Slide 6: Background
• Slide 7: Objectives
• Slide 8: Methodology
• Slide 10: Results. 1. Current engagement in agricultural science
research
• Slide 14: Results. 2. Scope of current agricultural science research
• Slide 18: Results. 3. Usefulness of current agricultural science research
• Slide 22: Results. 4. Future agricultural science research requirements
• Slide 29: Summary
• Slide 30: Note
• Slide 31: Website contacts
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
Background
• Modern agriculture faces a series of challenges in meeting future
demand for food
– A global population of 9 billion by 2050
– Rising oil prices
– Changes in land use and area under cultivation due to climate change
• Farmers and growers will need to
– Produce more food efficiently and safely
– Optimise the use of inputs
– Minimise environmental impact
• To tackle these challenges successfully, the needs of the whole food
supply chain must be considered – from producer to processor to retailer
to consumer
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
Objectives
• Research was carried out to seek views from the food industry on
agricultural science research
• Businesses at different points along the food supply chain were asked
about:
– Their current engagement in agricultural science research
– The scope of current research
– The usefulness of current agricultural science research
– The research needs of their businesses in 10 years time
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
Methodology
• Qualitative survey of food businesses
• Telephone interviews of approximately 30 minutes duration
• Views from 10 food businesses from the following sectors:
– Retail
– Composite food manufacture
– Dairy processing
– Cereal processing
– Meat processing
– Fresh produce grower
– Wholesale
– Foodservice operation
Many thanks to those who took part in the survey
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
Methodology continued
• For the purposes of the survey, agricultural science research was limited
to that focused on primary food production*
• Questions included in the qualitative survey focused on four areas:
1. Current engagement in agricultural science research
2. The scope of current research
3. The usefulness of current agricultural science research
4. The research needs of their businesses in 10 years time
• Emerging themes were identified
* Defined as cultivation of plants for human consumption, or for conversion into products for human
consumption; cultivation of plants as feed for animals for human consumption; rearing and maintenance of
animals for human consumption, or to produce outputs for human consumption.
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
Results
1. Current engagement in agricultural
science research
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
1. Current engagement in agricultural science
research
In what ways is your business involved in research?
Collaborative research with industry partners
UK and overseas
Government-funded, applied research projects
Through industry association or levy board
Projects directly funded at universities
Have our own facilities in house
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
1. Current engagement in agricultural science
research
Within primary food production, which area(s) of agricultural science research are
currently most important to your business?
Sustainability
Low carbon farming
Efficient water use
Reducing chemical inputs
Biodiversity
Animal welfare
•Ensuring business is
sustainable
•Impact on environment
•Growing population
•Meeting consumer demand
•Government demands
Measures of sustainability
Varietal innovation and
Yield improvements
methods of cultivation
Crop efficiency
Adaptation to drought
Food quality and safety
Tools to assess quality
Non-destructive testing
Nutritional and functional
improvements
OFC Research in association with:
•Food security
•Ensuring there is food to sell in
the future
•Grower and customer benefit
•Consumer expectation of
quality
•Government policy on nutrition
& health
Research by IGD
1. Current engagement in agricultural science
research
How do you view the overall importance of scientific research in primary
food production to your business?
1
(no importance)
If it stopped, the national diet would just have to
change
5
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
9
Median 8
10
10
(crucially important)
It is linked to sustainability and food security
Costs of production are not sustainable
It is part of our general horizon-scanning mix
Need to meet demands of population growth
We need to produce more for less
Keeping ahead of the competition
To increase functionality of crops and single
ingredients in foods
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
Results
2. Scope of current agricultural science
research
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
2. Scope of current agricultural science research
How well does agricultural science research meet the current needs of your
business?
It meets our needs
The right areas are not funded……..
It’s not applied enough………..
Don’t know what is out there……..
OFC Research in association with:
•Requirements met through trade bodies
and literature
•Funding depends on what’s “in vogue”
•Projects are tailored to meet expertise
within an institution, and not industry
needs
•Commercial needs not met
•No application to industry setting
•Lack of awareness of research
•Poor dissemination of information
•IP restricts access
Research by IGD
2. Scope of current agricultural science research
What are the gaps in agricultural science research?
Global focus
Sustainability &
food security
Meat quality
Strategy
Applied
research
Share best
practice
Meeting needs of
growing
population
Effects of forage
systems
Clear roadmap of
research
programme
Meeting market
needs
Look outside of
EU
Reduce carbon
and water use
Improving animal
health
Clarity of current
activities and
future needs
Connection to
commercial
world
Understand
benefits of
different farming
systems
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
2. Scope of current agricultural science research
Why do gaps in research exist?
Funding structure
Loss of skills
Commercial awareness
and organisation
Short term political outlook
Skills lost from areas now
recognised as important
Scientists need to understand
the environment in which
research outputs will be
employed
Poor availability of funds
Loss of good university
departments through lack of
funding
Speed of implementation of
research needs to increase
No overall responsibility for
research
OFC Research in association with:
Fragmented nature of parts
of the industry makes
implementation of
technology more challenging
Research by IGD
Results
3. Usefulness of current agricultural
science research
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
3. Usefulness of current agricultural science
research
Is it relevant?
Is it timely?
Is there sufficient
industrial participation?
YES
But it takes time to find the
areas of interest
YES
When there is clear
government-driven need
YES
It is in industry’s interests to
take part
NO
Not applied enough
NO
Too short term
NO
Consultation with industry is
needed
Pure research is interesting
but not relevant
Too slow to market
Contentious areas are not
addressed e.g GM
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
3. Usefulness of current agricultural science
research
What other factors affect the usefulness of agricultural science research?
Illustrations and ideas to show how research can be applied in the “real world”
Demonstrate benefits to business
Funding for implementation following the research
Working in collaboration will make it more impactful
Cluster farming and industry to deliver a research programme giving value
across the supply chain
Make it global
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
3. Usefulness of current agricultural science
research
How do you rate the overall usefulness of agricultural science research?
1
(no importance)
3
3
4
4
5
6
7
7
7
10
(crucially important)
Median
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
Results
4. Future agricultural science research
requirements
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
4. Future (10 years) agricultural science research
requirements
What issues do you think will be most important to your business?
Sustainability and food
security
Food quality and safety
Crop varieties and yield
Methods of cultivation
Withstanding climate change
Use of GM technology
Resource depletion
Water scarcity
Mineral depletion in soil
Sourcing
New markets
Post harvest physiology
Pest control
Nutrition
Non-destructive, rapid testing
Improving nutritional value
Animal welfare
Improving standards
Food safety
Pathogen control
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
4. Future (10 years) agricultural science research
requirements
Rank the following research areas in terms of importance to your business
Ranking
Climate change & other environmental
considerations
Top
Food safety
Second (equal)
Energy prices, efficiency savings & waste
reduction
Second (equal)
Human diet & health, including obesity
Second (equal)
Spread of new or emerging pests &
diseases
Bottom
Respondents ranked each research area in importance from 1 (highest) to 5
(lowest). Final ranking was based on the average of all scores.
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
4. Future (10 years) agricultural science research
requirements
Why are these areas important?
Climate change and other
environmental considerations
Food safety
OFC Research in association with:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Climate change affects all 5 areas
Maintaining a sustainable global
supply base
Feeding a growing world population
Reducing impact on supply chain
Maintaining consumer confidence
Threat from changes in supply chain
due to climate change
Research by IGD
4. Future (10 years) agricultural science research
requirements
Why are these areas important?
• Impact on climate and environment
Energy prices, efficiency savings and
waste reduction
Human diet and health, including
obesity
Spread of new and emerging pests and
diseases
OFC Research in association with:
• Cost perspective
• “Water is the new oil of tomorrow”
• Energy and carbon reduction
• Role of food industry in producing
food for health
• Addressing obesity
• Climate change and diet
• New pests arising as a result of
climate change
• Spread of current diseases e.g Blue
tongue in cattle
Research by IGD
4. Future (10 years) agricultural science research
requirements
Consequences for the food industry if research is not carried out
• Increased food prices
• Increased food imports
• Shifting global politics: countries whose climates support food
production increase in power
• Individual businesses implement their own solutions: fragmented
response
• UK will lose competitive advantage
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
4. Future (10 years) agricultural science research
requirements
Technologies which will help us
GM
Introduction to UK and EU
Offers significant advantages
Concerns over loss of skills
Nanotechnology
Potential not yet clear
Danger of developments being blocked
Genomics
Whole genome selection in cattle
Varietal selection
Sustainable agriculture
Hydroponics
Water management
Soil science
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
Summary
• Agricultural science research is important to the food businesses
surveyed
– Sustainability and food security
– Food quality and safety
• Engagement varies
– Out of the loop/unaware
– Engaged and active in research
• There is scope to increase application of research
• Without research
– Increased food prices
– Increased reliance on food imports
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
Note
• Sample size used in this research is small (10 businesses)
• Research is qualitative in nature
• Caution should be used in drawing wider inference for the food and
grocery sector
OFC Research in association with:
Research by IGD
Website contacts
Oxford Farming Conference: www.ofc.org.uk
Volac: www.volac.com
BBSRC: www.bbsrc.ac.uk
IGD: www.igd.com
OFC Research in association with: