Andrew Coggins

Rocky Mountain Regional Director

National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT)

Andrew came to NCAT in July 2016, having moved to Butte MT in August 2014 from the UK, with his wife Kate and 3 children, William, Robert and Sarah. Prior to working at NCAT he spent a year and a half with FedEx Freight located close to Butte. Previously he had worked for 25 years for Unilever, based on their 1250 acre research farm and laboratory site at Colworth House in Bedfordshire, UK 1989-2014. The research farm served Unilever’s interests when they owned companies related to agriculture, and included trial plots of vining peas, a dairy herd and a pig unit for trialing animal feed. The main farm grew conventional small seed crops – “combinable crops” – on 800 acres, and worked with external research partners on satellite steer systems, minimum tillage work, sustainable production systems, crop and chemical trials and biodiversity enhancement programs. Partners included John Deere, John Dale Drills, Syngenta and the CTF group (Controlled Traffic Farming), plus many more. Andrew managed the research farm from 2006 to 2014 plus a research site landscaping maintenance team and a golf course maintenance team. He also established a pig fattening unit to recycle ice cream used in Unilever’s research process, expanded the Controlled Traffic Farming project area from 20 acres to 140 acres, and brought additional biodiversity schemes to the site (similar to NRCS EQIP and CSP schemes), including a long-term sustainable management plan for 200 acres of woodland on the property. Andrew joined NCAT in July 2016 and is currently the regional manager for the Rocky Mountain West region, as well as working on sustainable agriculture projects, publication and blog writing. In addition to staff and project management, he has actively overseen an NRCS EQIP program for the NCAT SIFT (Small scale Intensive Farm Training) farm constructing 2 new Hi Tunnels to increase food production, and instigated various fruit tree, cover crop, and hydroponic projects. He has also re-built a third Hi Tunnel that was donated by an NCAT supporter, which will be used to support the Butte YMCA summer camp program. In addition to this Andrew has been involved in several projects involving the Blackfeet tribe, including working with ranchers on regenerative grazing measures, and leading a major project (with project partners) on a Blackfeet feasibility study for a tribally owned processing plant. This project (stage 1) is now complete. Andrew was also one of the team that helped organize and run NCAT’s Soil Innovations Conference in early March 2021, and played a major role in organizing the Montana Clean Energy Fair, which NCAT hosted in Butte in August 2021 on behalf of MREA (Montana Renewable Energy Association).