The appointment is part of Origin Fertilisers’ considerable investment to add to its team of young nutrition agronomists, an important role that provides crop and soil nutrition advice to help farmers get the best from their fertiliser applications.

Ben, who has a background in arable farming, graduated from Hartpury University’s BSc (Hons) Agriculture programme in 2018 following a dissertation around his interest in soil health and how yield is impacted by poor nutrition.

In his new post, Ben will take on an area covering East Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands.

Talking about the importance of his appointment, Ben said: “The passion I have for soil stems from my former Hartpury lecturer, Patrick Tandy, who instilled in me how everything links back to the soil and the importance of getting nutrition right regardless of the cultivation or drilling strategy that’s used. This helped to shape my belief that it’s more important than ever to focus on correct nutrition and look after the soil for the future.

“It’s essential for farmers and growers to know what’s going on beneath the surface to make the most of any crop nutrition application.”

“I like the variety of working with everything from broadacre fertiliser and tailored nutrition approaches through to digestate and grassland products. In this new role, I want to help farmers produce a higher-yielding, nutritionally rich crop, that also benefits the soil,” he added.

Agriculture remains at the heart of Hartpury, and the addition of a Digital Innovation Farm is part of an exciting 10-year vision to become a leader that shapes the future of farming. A £2 million Agri-Tech Centre was opened in 2019, which gives students access to precision farming tools and robotics as part of their learning. The most recent development, a £2 million Tech Box Park, has provided vital innovation spaces for agri-business.

A new MSc Applied Agricultural Sciences degree will welcomes its first cohort of students this September. At the college level, a range of agriculture diplomas and apprenticeships help the farmers of the future lay the foundation for future study or employmen