A British agri-tech startup believes that farms of the future could employ teams of small robots instead of the huge tractors and machinery common today. Let's take a closer look.

The British Small Robot Company is selling the concept of farming as a service, designed around its team of small, lightweight robots called Tom, Dick and Harry. It says replacing the tractor with small, intelligent, precision farming robots will make farms more productive, profitable and increase their yields and efficiency.

ROBIN JACKSON, ENGINEER SMALL ROBOT COMPANY "This is Tom. Tom is the robot that will live on the farm. So Tom will trundle out into a field every day and night we hope, as well and just examine the crops. Take hundreds of thousands of photos of the crops and measure all sorts of different attributes about them, photographing them in normal colour cameras as well as we're hoping infrared a bit later on, to see things that even an expert agronomist may not be able to pick up on without very serious careful detective work and we're doing that for every single plant in the field."

One farmer trialling the robots says he welcomes the potential savings to be made in fertilisers, nutrients and pesticides.

JAMIE BUTLER, OWNER WHITEWOOL FARM "One of the main things I think is the reduction in the variable inputs that these devices will do because obviously technology's moved on at such a pace that we can get a much more accurate assessment of what's going on with each individual crop and actually target problems with the crop very, very specifically and also apply fertilisers and any nutrients the crops need much more specifically as well. So, one you're avoiding the compaction, two you're getting more accuracy. What more can you want?"

The co-founder of the robot company says farming as a service would allow farmers to control costs and concentrate on developing their businesses, instead of fixing machines.

BEN SCOTT ROBINSON, CO-FOUNDER SMALL ROBOT COMPANY "So yes, you're right. We are taking the driving of the tractor away from a farmer. We are taking away the changing of the pipes that have been gnawed by rats on their drilling kit because it's been left in a shed for a year. Yes, we're doing that and by doing that we're freeing the farmer up to really concentrate on making their farm a successful and profitable business."