A world-first cattle safety solution was named the overall winner as the Great Yorkshire Show Innovation Awards sponsored by the Institution of Engineering and Technology returned for a second year.
The Awards, organised by the Farmer Scientist Network at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, were expanded for 2024 to encompass four categories which recognise a range of cutting-edge solutions for the agriculture sector.
Top honours
The Agri-Stride Vario dual-span diagonal slats from Wolfenden Concrete won the Engineering Award before being named overall winner, with judges praising the depth and breadth of innovation required to develop the solution.
The system helps protect cattle from slips and falls with a hybrid concrete and rubber system while also maintaining hoof health and is a world-first patent for the Kelbrook-based company that has been developing concrete solutions for more than 40 years.
Managing director Richard Moody said:
This award is the icing on the cake for all of the hard work we’ve had to put into developing this system.
This has been a real passion project for us.
It’s hard to get people excited about concrete and concrete can get a lot of bad press, but this is fantastic news and a great reward for the energy and effort all of our staff and the farmers who test it have put in.
The Innovation Awards are now in their second year and are a highlight on the Great Yorkshire Show’s Innovation Zone calendar.
The Innovation Zone is a showcase of the latest technology, thinking and solutions for the agricultural sector and features a packed programme of talks, discussions and interactive sessions.
Further recognition
At the Innovation Awards ceremony, the Digital Award went to Vet DX, an innovative cloud-based system that removes paperwork from livestock tests for vets and laboratories.
Using the system, vets can simply select a test using the platform on their phone and then enter the ear tag of the animal. The information is then sent direct to the laboratories.
Vet DX founder Clive Minihan explained the system was first developed during the Covid pandemic to help speed tests through laboratories and would help collect valuable data to help other vets fight pathogens in livestock.
Winner of the Agritech Start-Up Award was Wormganix which is unique in that it is the only company in the UK breeding worms to develop valuable fertilisers for the horticulture sector.
Owner of Wormganix, Andrew Varley explained the company is continuing to innovate and is now aiming to use waste streams such as used coffee grounds from Starbucks and waste paper pulp from Veolia with the worms to develop the next generation of fertilisers.
Puffin Packaging scooped the Process and Management Award for its wool-based packaging solutions that act as an alternative to polystyrene.
Robert Pemkala explained Puffin Packaging is made from 100% British wool, a natural insulator that is far more effective at keeping produce at the correct temperature than other insulation and the judges praised the business for solving the problem of wool that doesn’t have a use.
The Awards are sponsored by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Chair John Lawrence said:
These awards are a celebration of the innovation we see across the agricultural sector and help to promote best practice across the industry.
We were incredibly impressed with Wolfenden Concrete’s new system.
The sheer depth and breadth of the innovation required across the whole process and life cycle of this project made it a worthy winner of the top award.
The Farmer Scientist Network at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society aims to work with the crop and livestock sectors to find new ways in which science and technology can find solutions and underpin innovation in agriculture.
