Resilient Farming Futures

Scientists from Rothamsted Research commissioned this animated video for knowledge exchange and engagement purposes around research into the resilience of UK agriculture to climate change shocks.

Rothamsted Research is a world-leading, non-profit research centre that focuses on strategic agricultural science to the benefit of farmers and society worldwide.

Our animated video, “Resilient Farming Futures,” highlights the crucial role of UK agriculture, which directly employs around half a million people and contributes over £10 billion to the economy. This sector also supports related industries, such as agri-food and outdoor recreation. However, UK agriculture faces numerous challenges that threaten productivity and food security.

Key Challenges:

  • Climate Change: The UK is already experiencing the adverse effects of climate change, including droughts, high temperatures, heavy rain, and strong winds.
  • Economic and Political Disruptions: BREXIT, Covid-19, and conflicts have exacerbated these challenges by increasing input costs and complicating farm activities.

Importance of Resilience:

Given that agriculture occupies over 70% of the UK’s land, the impact of these challenges extends beyond food production to environmental benefits such as sediment loss regulation and clean water. To combat these threats, we must understand and enhance the resilience of agroecosystems.

Research and Innovation:

The project focuses on:

  • Conducting new experiments using advanced methods (pots, plots, and computer models) to assess crop resilience under future climate conditions.
  • Analysing historical data to learn from past stresses.
  • Exploring large-scale system adaptations to enhance resilience.

Tools for the Future:

They are developing decision support tools for farmers, providing early warnings and assisting with both short-term decisions and long-term planning. These tools aim to support policymakers in creating effective strategies to ensure the sustainability of UK agriculture.

Engagement and Collaboration:

Researchers are inviting stakeholders from all sectors of UK agriculture to collaborate with them.

Stills from the Animation:

Production Process:

Script & style concept 

We collaborated with the research team to write a timed script for the animation. A style concept was designed to give an idea of how the animation would look. 
The style use clean vector shape illustrations with shading to give a professional and educational yet engaging appearance.
The palette was inspired by agricultural colours.

Sketched Storyboards and Animatic Video 

A storyboard was sketched out based on the script in Photoshop then uploaded to Boords.

The storyboard images were then put into a video sequence with a draft voiceover recording so we could test the timings and ensure the script and images made sense when played together.

At this point we made some script and image revisions before moving to the next stage.

Illustration of Animation Assets

Once the sketched storyboards were signed off, the storyboards were illustrated in the style design.

The illustrations were created using Adobe Illustrator.

Some revisions were made before moving onto the next production phase.

Animation 

The animation phase started by preparing all the illustrations for animation. This involved separating artwork out onto layers and naming them.

Illustrator files were imported into Adobe After Effects to be animated.

A professional voice over artist recorded the script then the audio track was mixed and edited so it could be animated in time to.

Screenshot of the animation being created in Adobe After Effects

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