Presenting a special Jubilee award at LAMMA 2013, launching a ‘flash science fiction’ story competition and creating a new British Guild of Agricultural Journalist award are just a few of the activities IAgrE are planning to commemorate its 75th year.

Founded in 1938 by a group of visionary agriculturalists and engineers, IAgrE is the professional body for engineers, scientists, technologists and managers in agricultural and allied land-based industries and institutions.

From its early days the Institution was aware of the need in the UK for education and training in agricultural engineering and IAgrE was the first non chartered engineering Institution to be nominated and authorised for all three registers of the Engineering Council: Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer and Engineering Technician.

“Huge changes have taken place in agriculture since IAgrE’s beginning, not only in the machines and equipment used by farmers and growers but also in the concept of ‘engineering’ itself,” said Chris Whetnall IAgrE’s CEO. The spectrum of agricultural engineering has grown enormously to embrace not only tractors and farm machinery but also the control of soil and water on farms, the management of the environment for the production of livestock and an ever increasing variety of crops, processing, storage and packaging of crops, disposal or re-use of waste production, design and layout of farm buildings and their equipment and the health and safety of people working in the landbased industries.

But what of the challenges ahead? IAgrE see the skills shortage in the UK as one of the greatest challenges. The need for practically focussed engineers and engineering technicians is growing. The decline of engineering apprenticeships and other technological advances has reduced the demand for traditional workshop skills but engineers and technicians are more vital than ever. And they will need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to service and repair the ever increasing complexity and sophistication of agricultural machinery. There also needs to be a genuine parity of esteem. “The right prominence needs to be given to engineering technicians alongside chartered and incorporated engineers. Engineering and technology must be key components of any strategy leading to a sustainable future,” said Mr Whetnall.

IAgrE is committed to promoting industry professionalism and administers the Landbased Technician Accreditation Schemes on behalf of the landbased engineering sector. The independently accredited schemes provide a common means of benchmarking, monitoring and assessing the competence of technicians.

There are formidable agricultural challenges ahead, as outlined in the Government’s ‘Global Food and Farming Futures’ which was a two year study involving 400 experts from 35 countries published by the government-backed think tank Foresight . Sustainable intensification of agriculture is needed and IAgrE’s official response to the report: “Agricultural Engineering: a key discipline enabling agriculture to delivery global food security”, stresses that agricultural engineering needs to play a significant role in delivering this goal. The UK response to global food security will be much more powerful if agricultural engineering is recognised as a critical component, capable of breaking down traditional barriers and enhancing multidisciplinary approaches to the challenges

One thing that is certain is the demand for food is increasing and the demand for further sophisticated machinery will match it and if agricultural engineers do not have the answer they will certainly be part of the catalyst for change.