Toby Mottram
Dr Toby Mottram FREng, FIAgrE, PhD, MSc., BA(Hons), BSc. began his career as a working herdsman and then retrained as an engineer, moving into research and teaching before going into digital agritechnology start-ups. During his academic career he co- invented robotic milking, developed cow breath sampling, in-line milk analysis and the rumen telemetry bolus. He has been active in policy discussions in Defra coordinating greenhouse gas research 2010-2013 and farm animal welfare. After Silsoe Research closed he focused on commercialising products from research particularly the pH bolus (eCow), antimicrobial monitoring (VirtualVet) and most significantly automated milk progesterone measurement by lateral flow test (Milkalyser). The products combine sensor technology with web enabled data management systems. He completed a BBSRC/Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellowship in 2016 to develop subsequently raised £1.6 m to develop and demonstrate the prototype LFA analyser. Milkalyser was acquired by Lely the market leader in robotic milking in 2020. eCow was acquired by Wolfhound Analytics in 2021. He is now looking for new challenges in agricultural engineering.
Affiliations and expertise
FREng, FIAgrE, Digital Agritech Ltd, former Douglas Bomford Trust Chair of Farm Mechanisation, Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, UK