Hands Free Harvest 2022 - another successful year of autonomous farming

20 September 2022

The Hands Free Farm harvest for 2022 has been completed - marking another successful year of autonomous farming.

The farm, based on the University estate in Shropshire, is the successor of the multi-award winning Hands Free Hectare, which started in 2016 with the aim to be the first in the world to grow, tend and harvest a crop without operators in the driving seats or agronomists on the ground.

The project has run in partnership between Harper Adams and Precision Decisions, along with the UK division of Australian precision agriculture specialist, Farmscan AG.

This year's harvest saw some of the delays any farm faces at this time of year - such as the changeable British weather and machinery issues - but by September, the crops had once again been brought autonomously in.

As the Hands Free team prepare to host industry partners and invited guests today, follow their harvest - from high summer to early autumn - with this social media round up.

Crops looking great thanks to support of
— Kit Franklin (@AgEngResearch)

Lots of activity the last few weeks preparing for the impending
Servicing, tuning and field testing machines.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Hands Free is started in the wheat.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Turns out we are not immune to day one breakdowns.... have sorted a main drive belt for next week lucky coming from Germany not India like the combine!
Headland half off anyway!
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

The is back together and we are off again. Dust coming off the Extase today in 30C+.
Great work by the & team.
Unload on the moves to come...
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Once the headlands are cut, we then cut the fields into blocks which are then cut outside to in.
Here is the combine making a turn at the end of a block.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Still and dusty sunset.
Top Adney going well.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Update previous calculation didn't account for our wild flower mix!
9.19T/ha!!!
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Mid afternoon montage of the first day of the Fands Free Harvest.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Apologies field tweeting slip up!
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Once the combine makes its turn it pulls up to the tractor and they resynchronise speeds.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Top Adney completed. 32.86T from 3.4ha = 9.665T/ha. 11.5% and 81.4 Bushel Wt.
That's our wheat done, total of 47.84T total from 5ha averaging 9.5T/ha
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

A look back to last week's harvest action before the rain, great to see the HFF teams and sponsors effort come to fruition. .
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Middle Moor headlands complete. System running smoothly into the evening.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

The team also welcomed David Gregory-Kumar from the BBC - with a piece going out live on the lunchtime news, a further piece on BBC News 24, and an interview on Radio 4's Farming Today which .

Morning visit from to catch up on developments from to the Hands Free Farm.
Catch us on the lunchtime bulletin.
— Kit Franklin (@AgEngResearch)

Back up and running after a few days of rain.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

You know it's a nice day on the when you can clearly see the .
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Unloading on the move in the evening. and
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

After a late finish on Saturday to clear our first 12ha of spring barley, it's nice to be making good progress on the next this morning.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Cracking on today in some mixed weather but the suns come out to keep us moving this evening.
c4ha cut since 11:00.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Another late one for the team: , &
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Into our last 5 blocks of spring barley c1.8ha to finish 12ha field. running sweetly and the control system working really well.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

That's a wrap on cereal harvest 2022.
5ha = 47T of wheat in 2 fields in 2 days.
First 12ha of spring barley in 8 rain interrupted days.
12.5ha more spring barley in second field in 3 warm sunny days.
Yields confirmed tomorrow once all in the store.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Today after waiting for the sun to dry off last night's showers and as we got to the field to start cutting this happened!!
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Little late but the yield results for our spring barley are as follows:
Middle Moor 41.44T from 9.92ha = 4.18T/ha
Near Moor 49.36T from 12.61ha = 3.91T/ha
Average of 4.03T/ha

Some lost yield with patches of crop having gone flat.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)

Winter Beans are disappearing as we head towards fishing in Poor's Land our trickiest field with obstacles and EM interference.
— HandsFreeHectare & Farm (@FreeHectare)