The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will invest up to £5 million in farmer-led trials that test new ideas on working farms, through the Full ADOPT Grant: Round 10.
This competition is part of Defra's Farming Innovation Programme, delivered with Innovate UK. It funds collaborative on-farm trials and experiments with total costs of between £50,000 and £200,000, led by a farming, growing or forestry business based in England. Your trial needs to tackle a real challenge on the farm or just past the farmgate, and show other English farmers how the results could help them too.
Below, I have explained the key things you need to know about this competition before you apply: who is eligible, how much funding is on the table, and what the application process looks like.
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Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
To lead a project, you must be an active farming, growing or forestry business of any size, based in England. You must be able to show that you're an established commercial business (sole traders and partnerships count) and have an eligible UK bank account.
This competition is for collaborative projects only. You must work with at least one other commercial farming, growing or forestry business based anywhere in the UK, and both of you must request funding. If you're part of a farming or growing co-operative, you should apply as an individual business.
The following UK-registered organisations can join you as collaborators:
- Academic institutions
- Businesses of any size
- Charities
- Commercial farmers, growers and foresters
- Not-for-profit organisations
- Public sector organisations
- Research and technology organisations (RTOs)
- Research organisations
Academic institutions, charities, Community Interest Companies (CICs) and other organisations without a commercial focus can't lead a project. No single organisation can claim more than 70% of the total project costs.
You must also have an approved ADOPT Project Facilitator on your project team. They must be listed on the Innovate UK Business Connect facilitator database, and you can include their costs as a subcontractor.
Your Project
Your project must:
- End by 31 March 2029
- Have total eligible costs of between £50,000 and £200,000
- Last between 6 and 24 months
- Start by 1 April 2027
All funded work must be carried out in the UK, and you must intend to exploit the project results from or within the UK.
Your project must also:
- Address a major on-farm or immediate post-farmgate challenge or opportunity in agriculture, horticulture or agro-forestry
- Demonstrate to other farmers, growers and foresters in England how the idea or solution will benefit them
- Have the potential to significantly improve productivity, resilience, or sustainability and progress towards net zero farming
- Include a plan for sharing your results during and after the project
- Test an idea or solution that is new or not yet widely used
At least 50% of the grant requested by farmers, growers and foresters in your project must go to those based in England.
Defra won't fund projects that:
- Are based on equine systems
- Are based on existing demonstration trials or projects
- Are based on funded crop variety plot trials
- Are for cultivated meat
- Are for the production of crops or plants for medicinal or pharmaceutical use
- Don't benefit farmers, growers or foresters in England
- Involve aquaculture, like algae and seaweed for human consumption
- Involve fermentation systems for bacteria, yeast or fungi for human consumption
- Involve wild caught fisheries
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
The amount you can claim depends on your organisation's type and size and the sort of research your project involves.
Total project costs must be between £50,000 and £200,000.
Applying as a Company
| Project Type | Farmers, Growers and Foresters in England, Scotland and Wales | Micro and Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of Costs Covered* | 80% | 70% | 60% | 50% |
*This competition funds industrial research, which refers to planned research aimed at acquiring new knowledge for developing new products, processes, or services. Micro and small organisations include farming businesses based in Northern Ireland.
Funding Example
If you're a farming business in England with £100,000 of eligible project costs, you could receive a grant of £80,000. You will need to fund the remaining £20,000 from other sources, like R&D Tax Relief, investment or loans.
Applying as a Non-Commercial Organisation
Research organisations doing non-economic work can share up to 60% of the total eligible project costs and are funded at higher rates:
- Up to 100% of eligible costs if you are a charity, not-for-profit, public sector organisation, research organisation, or RTO
- Up to 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you're an academic institution, like a university
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 2 December 2026.
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into three sections:
Project Details
This section isn't scored, but it sets the context for your application. It covers:
- Application details
- Application team
- Project summary
- Public description
- Research category
- Scope, including the name of your ADOPT Project Facilitator
Most answers in this section are limited to 400 words.
Application Questions
There are 14 questions in total:
- Seven unscored administrative questions covering topics like applicant location, animal testing, farm partner details and permits
- Seven scored questions covering the idea you want to trial, your trial design, team and resources, outcomes and impacts, sharing your results, project management and risks, and value for money
You can include appendices (PDFs of up to two A4 pages) for the trial design and team questions. You must also submit a project plan and a risk register for the project management question.
Finances
Each organisation enters its own project costs, and farmers can calculate trial expenses using a labour day rate or a rate per hectare.
Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors. Their individual scores will be combined to determine your final result.
If you're successful, you'll be notified by 20 January 2027.
Like with most competitions, Innovate UK takes a 'portfolio approach' by funding projects across different technologies, markets and technological maturities. This means that a strong score won't necessarily guarantee that your application will be successful.
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