Three low carbon projects have been given the green light to commence in a bid to drive net zero farm development in Wales.
The three schemes, all based at Coleg Cambria Llysfasi, have been awarded £500,000 worth of investment to pioneer new tech to reduce farm emissions.
One of the projects will explore the potential for drones to identify on-land issues such as weed growth.
The second phase of the scheme includes research into how drones could communicate with a rover on the ground to target issues remotely, a dual-concept application.
Meanwhile, Promar International, based in Cheshire, is developing a bilingual carbon footprint resource for farmers in North Wales, where they can go online and input information on the landscape, current meat and milk production systems, potential for tree planting and more.
Their carbon footprint will be calculated, and results given, which in turn will encourage best practice and be used on a regional basis to support the industry.
The third project sees BioFactory Energy developing a low-cost, modular anaerobic digestion system for small-medium Welsh dairy farms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from slurry management.
A prototype plant is expected to be on-site in the new year that will generate energy for the farm and improve slurry quality for spreading.
Coleg Cambria Llysfasi project manager George Fisher said that progress on all three schemes marked an 'exciting time for agriculture' in North Wales.
He hopes all three projects will be in position to move forward on a commercial basis and be utilised by farmers as they look to reduce emissions.
"The industry is pivotal to North Wales, employing 7% of the workforce and contributing more than £370m to the economy each year," he said.
“We want to take farmers on this journey with us, as we look to embrace advances in technology to become more sustainable as a sector.
