MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine breeders in UK tour of meat and dairy technology centres

The Palermo agriculture and livestock expo where the best of Argentine breeds compete for the top prizes, and is also an opportunity for the display of new technologies and farming practices

June, July, August are months of the austral winter and Argentina, southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay hold their main livestock shows, (Palermo, Esteio, Roque Alonso and Prado) including a display of the latest technology advances in cattle feeding and breeding.

With this in mind the UK’s Department of Business and Trade (DBT), through the British Embassy in Argentina, organised a trade mission to England and Scotland focusing on technologies for meat and dairy production. Representatives from the livestock chain in Latin America and the Caribbean participated, including specialists from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Jamaica and Uruguay.

Agri Tech Trade Mission

The program focused on demonstrating the efficiency and sustainability of the UK livestock and dairy agribusiness chain, through an agenda of visits to world-class research and development centres, and sessions with companies specialising in technologies that drive efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability in the production chain. 

The British livestock and genetics industry is considered one of the most advanced in the world for its scientific pioneering and progressive use of advanced and environmentally responsible techniques. The visitors exchanged experiences with farmers of different breeds and discussed business opportunities to establish alliances between Argentine, Uruguayan and British companies.

The five representatives from Argentina had access to the UK Agri-Tech Centre, a specialised organisation that connects agricultural producers, researchers and start-up technology developers. Its main objective is to support technology-based companies to implement their solutions in real fields, testing and validating their technologies for the transition to a commercial stage. This centre has open access to world-class facilities. 

The Argentine delegation included:

*María Dolores Brandi, general manager of the Asociación Criadores Hampshire Down de Argentina, an association that promotes the Hampshire Down breed of sheep.

*Agustín Vicente Casares, director of the Fundación Instituto de la Leche (FIL) since 1990, a non-profit organisation providing R&D and commercial facilities for the dairy sector.

*Ramiro Destefanis and Mario Ledesma, general manager and new product leader, respectively, at Villanueva, a leading distributor of agricultural and livestock products in Argentina.

*Melina Bertón, president of Weizur, an Argentine company based in Sorocaba, Brazil, which manufactures chemical, veterinary and metallurgical products for dairy farms.

Along the route between Bristol and Edinburgh, they were welcomed by Dave Ross, International and Investment Director, and Robert Morrison, Director of Estates, at the Agri-Tech Centre.

Melina Bertón, global vice president at Weizur, commented: “I found it interesting that [in the UK] they are working strongly on reducing the carbon footprint by using artificial intelligence technology. Now let's go back and see what we can apply in our countries.”

Robert Morrison, director of estates at the Agri-Tech Centre, said: “We participated in this visit and continue to be very excited to work together, to increase the connection between countries, and to learn from each other. We have been working closely with our partners in Argentina through the CREA organisation, to help them understand the technologies we can bring to Latin America and vice versa. This includes a wide range of robotics, artificial intelligence, and satellites. Those innovations can be easily installed in other markets.” 

Dave Ross, international and investment director at the Agri-Tech Centre, added: “We have previously worked with Latin America, through DBT, on an initiative we call 'Smart Farm / Granja Inteligente', where we are looking for new technologies that can be implemented to improve the productivity and sustainability of those farms. We hope that this dialogue will continue, that we will receive more missions, to continue exchanging experiences and showcasing the best that the UK has to offer Latin America.”

Ramiro Destefanis, CEO of Villanueva, said: ”I liked it very much, I generated very good relationships, it is very interesting the moment we are living. We had a business round in which we were able to have a summary of several fairs in one place and have an exclusive moment with several companies. I'm very happy.[

The mission, which took place in June, started in Bristol, close to one of the UK Agri-Tech Centre's facilities: the South West Dairy Development Centre. There the delegation received presentations from Innovate UK (IUK), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and three start-ups that are developing artificial intelligence, traceability and animal health monitoring solutions. In the Birmingham area, they visited Harper Adams University facilities, a robotic dairy and cattle genetics companies.

The delegation participated in several business roundtables with companies in the sector in the UK and was led by Federico Perez Wodtke, Regional Leader of the Agri-Tech Sector at the British Embassy in Buenos Aires. The tour concluded in Edinburgh, with visits to the Royal Highland Show, the Scottish Rural College (SRUC) and the Roslin Institute.