A US agricultural technology (agri-tech) trade mission, organised by Missouri's World Trade Centre in St Louis and comprising stakeholders from the city and state representing government, business and academia, has visited York as part of a UK tour.

Arranged to build connections between the UK, the city of St Louis, and the state of Missouri, the St Louis Ag-Tech Trade, Investment and Research Mission is focused around innovation for agriculture and food.

The delegation spent a morning in York where it met with representatives from Fera and CHAP at the National Agri-Food Innovation Centre, before being hosted by N8 AgriFood at the University of York in the afternoon.

Marianna Ventouratou-Morys, international strategy manager for N8 AgriFood, said: "It was a pleasure to welcome the delegation from Missouri.

"N8 AgriFood's long standing engagement with the US mid-west, facilitated by the FCO's Science and Innovation Network, means that the North of England is becoming an important reference point in the agri-food world for international businesses and academics looking for investment opportunities."

N8 AgriFood is a research programme which combines the expertise of food related scientists across the eight most research intensive universities in the North of England.