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Full ADOPT Grant Program (United Kingdom)

Deadline: 25-Jun-25

Farming, growing or forestry businesses based in England can apply for on-farm trial and demonstration projects, to improve adoption of new ideas or solutions in the agricultural sector.

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:
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.