Expansion for Innovation for Agriculture as charity enters its second decade

Innovation for Agriculture has expanded the size and breadth of expertise on its board of trustees as the charity enters its second decade.

Dr. Lisa Morgans, Mr. Flavian Obiero and Mr. Roly Taplin joined the charity’s board of trustees this spring.

Mr. David Grint, CEO at Innovation for Agriculture, explains that the time is right to welcome new expertise and perspectives onto the board.

“Over the past ten years Innovation for Agriculture has become established as a leading facilitator of knowledge sharing in the agricultural sector.

“We have delivered numerous projects that link farmers with research and innovation, while enabling the wider farming community to learn from what works and what doesn’t,” says Mr. Grint. “We are now taking our activities to a new level, with the intention to reach more farmers across the UK and to provide opportunities to learn from what farm businesses are already doing, particularly in relation to climate smart farming.”

Mr. Grint explains that the new perspectives brought to the charity with the expansion of the board of trustees are expected to guide the charity in the next stages of its journey.

“We’re bringing in practical farming, veterinary and academic knowledge of the highest calibre to the board, which will be an excellent complement to the skills of our existing board members,” he says. 

“There are already many examples of technologies and approaches which can increase farm business resilience in the face of climate change. At Innovation for Agriculture, our intention is to provide widely accessible, independent, unbiased information on climate smart farming and to create opportunities for farmers to see and hear about others’ experiences of implementing change,” he adds.

The new trustees will be joining Paul Westaway, Philip Gready, David Galbraith and Robert Drewett on the Innovation for Agriculture board of trustees.

Dr. Morgans is a senior lecturer in animal health and welfare at the Royal Agricultural University. “It is a great privilege to be asked to be a trustee for Innovation for Agriculture. The farming sectors are facing unprecedented change on so many fronts and in need of groups like Innovation for Agriculture to help guide, support and facilitate the necessary agricultural transition,” she says.

“It has been a pleasure to see how the charity has developed over the years, as an employee and as an external, and I look forward to working with the fantastic people behind Innovation for Agriculture over the coming months and years,” she adds.

Mr. Obiero is a tenant farmer based in Hampshire, farming pigs, sheep and ex-dairy goats on 61 acres of mixed pasture and woodland, and supplying their meat to local customers.

“I'm honoured to be given the opportunity to join the Innovation for Agriculture board of trustees. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and learning along the way,” he says.