Latest opportunities
On 1 September, Defra announced that new “small R&D partnerships” and “feasibility studies” competitions within the Farming Innovation Programme will be opening this Autumn, totalling £12.6 million. NFU Deputy President David Exwood said the confirmation of these latest competitions “is a welcome signal that the government is supporting practical, farmer-led solutions to some of our sector’s biggest challenges, from labour shortages and sustainable production to animal health and net zero”.
“This funding builds on existing commitments in backing research and innovation that can deliver productivity, resilience and profitability, reflecting those outlined in the Industrial Strategy.”
The government included agri-tech and precision breeding as key elements within its recently published Industrial Strategy.
These announcements confirm the continuation of several important research competitions which were left in an uncertain position following the change in government and the Budget announced in 2024.
Small R&D partnership projects round 4
Applications will open on 15 September and close on 5 November at 11am.
Up to £7.8 million will be available for later-stage projects, with the aim of helping businesses develop new farming products or services and move them closer to market.
For more information, visit: GOV.UK | Small R&D Partnership Projects Rd 4.
The small R&D partnership competition offers between £1-3 million for projects up to three years in length. It is intended to allow new farming products or services the chance to develop, helping improve farming methods and the environment.
Feasibility Studies
Applications will open on 13 October.
Up to £4.8 million will be made available to help test and develop early stage ideas and to decide whether to invest in larger R&D projects.
Innovate UK will be hosting a webinar on 14 October after applications open, giving farmers the chance to ask questions and find potential partners to apply with as well as outlining timelines. Visit Innovate UK's website to register.
Feasibility studies are competitions which will fund successful projects between £200,000 and £500,000 and can be for up to two years.
ADOPT: Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies
Rounds 1 and 2 of the facilitator support grant and full ADOPT grant are now closed for applications. Round 3 is currently open for applications and will close on 15 October for the full ADOPT grant. Round 4 will open on 16 October and close on 10 December. Stay up to date with all of the deadlines and information on our ADOPT essential information page.
ADOPT aims to support farmer-led trials that focus on collaboration to generate innovative solutions for farming challenges.
This will be achieved through trials or experiments to generate, test and, ultimately, demonstrate the capability of these solutions in a practical context.
The outcome of these projects will include providing knowledge of new practices which can be shared to the wider sector to encourage adoption more widely.
ADOPT works through two different grants, depending on the applicants’ individual needs.
The first is a small support grant, which would allow an applicant to access professional assistance from an industry expert to support them in developing an application for a full grant.
These grants are designed to support those less familiar with Innovate UK and the process for submitting an application. This is an optional grant, and is not compulsory for those wanting to submit a full ADOPT application.
The second is the full ADOPT grant. This will support the on-farm trials or experiments.
Find out more about ADOPT on our essential information page.
About the Farming Innovation Programme
In October 2021, Defra launched the first of a series of funding competitions to invest in R&D for the farming industry under the Farming Innovation Programme.
The aim of the programme is to help farmers, growers and foresters increase their sustainability and resilience through harnessing science to develop practical solutions for the industry.
The NFU has argued for increased funding in this area for many years and it is vital that investment leads to all farmers and growers being supported to get involved at some level with R&D.
It is essential robust evidence is accessible to everyone to improve decision-making and provide feedback on what works on farm.
The NFU has also joined a consortium of over 20 industry and research partners to form CHCx3 (The Centre for High Carbon Capture Cropping), a four-year, £5.9 million project led by crop science organisation NIAB (National Institute of Agricultural Botany).
Find out more at: NFU joins research partners to help UK farmers increase carbon capture.
Following NFU Conference in 2025, a number of announcements were made concerning the Farming Innovation Programme. Part of a £110m funding commitment also included the launch of a further round in 2025 of the FETF (Farming Equipment and Technology Fund).
There will be a number of additional competitions available for farmers to engage with in 2025 with a combined value of £42.5 million to contribute to various themes.
Past competitions
You can read more about the successful applications from the first round of the Small R&D partnership projects funding at: UKRI | £11m funding announced to further support food sector innovation.
UKRI announced a further fifty successful projects across four FIP competitions, which you can read about at: UKRI | 50 winning projects showcase the latest farming innovations.
We want to hear from you
We would like to hear from any of our members who looked at these opportunities about their experiences, good or bad. Whether you applied, or even just considered applying, this feedback will help with future NFU discussions with Defra and UKRI. We hope this can lead to improvements in the programme and application process.
If you have feedback please email us on [email protected].
Further information
If you are interested in the Farming Innovation Programme please visit: UKRI | Farming Innovation: find out about funding.
You can also read Defra’s blogs at: GOV.UK | Future Farming
