The ambitious vision of Agrimetrics, once a beacon of hope for revolutionising UK agriculture through data-driven insights, has met an untimely end, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and missed opportunities. Launched in 2015 as a flagship project of the UK government’s £140 million Agri-Tech Strategy, Agrimetrics was tasked with creating a national agricultural data platform to enhance productivity, sustainability, and food security. However, despite an initial investment of £11.8 million, the platform never materialised, leading to a pivot towards consultancy services that ultimately failed to sustain the organisation.
By 2024, Agrimetrics was fully commercially funded, and with the cessation of government grants in March 2025, it ceased independent operations. The demise of Agrimetrics has sparked criticism from leading figures in the agricultural sector. Professor Tina Barsby, a renowned British crop scientist, described the situation as a profound missed opportunity and a lack of accountability for taxpayers. “We wanted a farm data platform everyone could contribute to, that was publicly funded and open. That never happened. We’re now 10 years behind countries like the US, the Netherlands, and New Zealand,” she told AgTechNavigator.
Dr Julian Little, a UK plant science expert, echoed Barsby’s concerns, highlighting the original vision of creating a national farm data platform that would position UK agri-tech as a cornerstone of sustainability and economic growth. “I’m scratching my head about where we went wrong,” he said. “Tens of millions have been spent with very little to show for it.” The lack of transparency surrounding the acquisition of Agrimetrics by Trinity AgTech has also raised eyebrows. “No one knew anything about the Trinity exercise,” Barsby added. “There was literally no transparency.”
For Trinity AgTech, however, the acquisition represents a strategic leap forward. The company plans to integrate Agrimetrics’ satellite analytics into its Sandy platform, combining Earth observation data with soil tests, LiDAR, and farmer inputs to deliver near real-time insights on crop performance, soil health, biodiversity, and carbon assets. Dr Hosein Khajeh-Hosseiny, Trinity’s founder and executive chairman, framed the acquisition as a win for UK and global agri-tech. “This passing of the torch from Agrimetrics to Trinity AgTech is a win for UK and global agri-tech,” he said. “We’re ensuring the UK’s investment and immense expertise in satellite analytics will carry on and scale up.”
Agrimetrics had “fantastic” technology, leadership, and scientists, Khajeh-Hosseiny told AgTechNavigator, but lacked the bandwidth to commercialise. “We can provide a much more robust, comprehensive offering and support to the industry than it could have ever done on its own.” David Flanders, Agrimetrics’ director, agreed: “We set out to turn complex Earth observation science into practical tools that people on the ground can trust. This acquisition means the technology will not only live on but reach even more end-users in farming and environmental management in the UK and beyond, exactly what we always hoped for.”
While the acquisition secures the future of Agrimetrics’ satellite analytics, unanswered questions remain. How much did Trinity pay? What happens to the rest of Agrimetrics’ data assets? And does this mark the end of any hope for a UK-wide, open farm data platform? For now, the deal is being seen as both a lifeline and a lament – a passing of the torch that saves a decade of innovation from fading away, but also a stark reminder of a national ambition that never materialised.