‘Lincolnshire’s thriving agriculture sector continues to draw global investors’

Despite recent economic hurdles brought on by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Coun Colin Davie, Lincolnshire Council executive member for economic development, environment and planning, said the sector continues to draw in inward investment from major firms.

While enjoying the sunshine on the opening day of this year’s Lincolnshire Show, the Conservative member for Ingoldmells Rural revealed that last year, 40 per cent of the total investment in Lincolnshire was funnelled into the agricultural sector.

He said: “We are doing amazing things, not just in terms of processing, but in artificial intelligence, robotics, and we are developing stuff that the world is going to want to be part of.”

Coun Davie highlighted the development of self-operating robotic technology, intended to address labour shortages, as a real opportunity and anticipates the industry will continue to grow from “strength to strength”, drawing even greater investment in the years to come.

He said: “We’ve got incredible people with incredible ideas driving the sector forward and farmers looking into the crystal ball of the future. I believe the real revolution in Lincolnshire is coming from the agricultural sector.”

Reflecting on the current economic challenges, Coun Martin Hill, council leader, said: “Farming has been very good in the past at adapting to the circumstances it finds itself in, so, I think there is a bright future but again, it will be a big period of change.

“But I’m confident providing food across the world will remain a big issue and obviously Lincolnshire, in particular, has a massive role to play in that.”