Full ADOPT Grant Program (United Kingdom)

Aims

• The aim of this competition is to support innovative on-farm trials or experiments to test ideas or solutions and demonstrate that they will address major on-farm or immediate post farmgate challenges or opportunities.

Specific Themes

• Your project must address a significant industry challenge or opportunity in at least one or more of the following sectors:
  • agriculture
  • horticulture
  • agro-forestry

Research Categories

• They will fund industrial research projects as defined in the guidance on categories of research.
  • Innovate UK supports the following R&D categories:
    • fundamental research
    • feasibility studies
    • industrial research
    • experimental development

Funding Information

• The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has allocated up to £2 million, working in partnership with Innovate UK to fund on-farm trial projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.
• Your project’s total costs must be between £50,000 and £100,000.
• A minimum of 50% of the total grant amount requested by farmers, growers and foresters must be allocated to farmers, growers or foresters geographically based in England.
• If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.
• The balance between your total eligible project costs and the amount of grant awarded must be funded by the organisation receiving the grant.
• For industrial research projects, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:
  • up to 80% if you are an active farming, growing or forestry business based in England, Wales or Scotland
  • up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation, including active farming, growing or forestry businesses based in Northern Ireland
  • up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation
  • up to 50% if you are a large organisation

Ineligible Projects

• They are not funding projects that:
  • do not benefit farmers, growers or foresters in England
  • are based on equine systems ​
  • involve wild caught fisheries
  • are for the production of crops or plants for medicinal or pharmaceutical use
  • are based on funded crop variety plot trials
  • are based on existing demonstration trials or projects
  • include aquaculture, such as algae and seaweed, for human consumption
  • fermentation systems for bacteria, yeast or fungi​ or cultivated meat
• They cannot fund projects that are:
  • dependent on export performance, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country
  • dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product

Eligibility Criteria

• Your Project
  • Your project must:
    • last between 6 and 24 months
    • start by 1 November 2025
    • end by 31 October 2027
    • intend to exploit the results from or in England
    • carry out all of its project work in the UK
    • embrace open innovation principles and be willing to share results with other farmers, growers or foresters
    • have a Project Facilitator as part of the project team who is listed in the ADOPT Innovate UK Business Connect database
• Lead organisation
  • To lead a project you must:
    • be an active farming, growing or forestry business of any size based in England
    • be able to evidence that you are an established commercial business, including sole traders and partnerships
    • have a UK bank account
    • collaborate with at least one other farming or growing businesses of any size, based in the UK
• Project team
  • To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be a farmer, grower or forester based in the UK.
  • You may also collaborate if you are a UK registered:
    • business of any size
    • academic institution
    • charity
    • not for profit
    • public sector organisation
    • research organisations
    • research and technology organisation (RTO)

For more information, visit GOV.UK.