Cyber security and agriculture came together in Gloucestershire today (5 November) as Hartpury University and Hartpury College’s Digital Innovation Farm hosted the very first Hack-A-Tractor, an innovative cross-sector learning event designed to demonstrate how digital skills underpin the future of food, farming and rural resilience.
Held at Hartpury’s Digital Innovation Farm, the event saw cyber students and agriculture students work side by side, exploring how technology is transforming the land-based sector and how cyber protection is now essential on farms that are increasingly connected, automated and data-driven.
Around 60 Hartpury agriculture students took part, alongside 20 cyber apprentices from Gloucestershire College and students from University of Gloucestershire. Representatives from CyberFirst, NFU Mutual, CACI, Modusafe, NCSC, Talis Amos, T H Whites and Invest in Gloucestershire were also in attendance, highlighting the breadth of industry support across the county for this growing convergence of skills.
The day included a keynote from Claire Whitworth, Hartpury College Principal, a session from Chris Dunning-Walton, MD and Founder of Sentients, on “Cyber Everywhere: The Hidden Power Protecting Our World”, and an extended hands-on activity led by the South West Regional Cyber Crime Unit. Cyber students toured the Digital Innovation Farm and saw real agricultural technology in action (across both livestock and crop production), while agriculture students took part in an interactive cyber challenge featuring live problem-solving and real-world threat scenarios to demonstrate how vulnerable technologies can be.
Cyber students also explored Hartpury’s Digital Studio, negotiating an obstacle course on the tractor simulator.
A networking lunch gave students and industry the opportunity to connect and build relationships across sectors.
Hollie Wakefield, General Manager of CyNam, said: “Cross-sector collaboration is vital in securing the future of technology. Technology underpins every industry, and events like this provide an incredible opportunity to showcase the importance of working together.
“For the students, this is more than just a learning day, it’s a chance for agriculture and cyber students to collaborate, explore each other’s sectors, and gain insights they may never have realised existed. By working side by side, they can understand the challenges and opportunities across different industries, building the skills and perspective that will help shape the next generation of innovators.”
Claire Whitworth, Hartpury College Principal, added: “Bringing cyber and agriculture students together in this way reflects the real world they are entering, where food production, technology and data security are deeply interconnected. Our role is to prepare young people for the future to ensure they have the skills set to use the new and emerging technologies to produce our food efficiently and sustainably. Today’s event has shown the power of applied learning and collaboration, and we’re incredibly proud to see students exploring how their skills can shape safer, smarter and more resilient farming systems for years to come.
A county leading the conversation
Gloucestershire is one of the few regions in the UK where cyber development and agricultural innovation sit side by side, with Hartpury’s Digital Innovation Farm, the Golden Valley Cyber Innovation ecosystem, and a cluster of cyber, defence and intelligence employers all within close reach.
Today’s event showcased how these strengths can directly benefit young people – who are increasingly training for careers that will span multiple sectors.
One of the core themes of the day was encouraging young people to recognise that skills do not exist in silos. Something learned in cyber can accelerate innovation on farms. Something learned in agriculture can influence digital design. This is the mindset that Gloucestershire wants its future workforce to adopt.
