Farm innovation fund opens to support on-farm trials

Farmers, growers and foresters in England can apply for a fresh round of funding aimed at turning practical ideas into on-farm trials.

The latest round of the ADOPT (Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies) fund, run by Defra, is now open. The scheme supports farmer-led innovation and does not require previous trial experience.

Applicants need only a concept they want to test but lack the time, funding or expertise to deliver. The programme provides financial backing alongside technical support to help bring projects to completion.

Support available

A central part of the scheme is the ADOPT Support Hub. It is delivered by ADAS, UK Agri-Tech Centre and Soil Association. The service offers guidance from idea development through to application, delivery and sharing results.

Applicants can also apply for additional funding to work with a facilitator, who helps prepare submissions and manage projects. Facilitators support all successful projects. They assist with reporting, administration and financial oversight.

Working together

Collaboration is a requirement of the scheme. Grants are awarded to projects where farmers work together, with the option to involve businesses or researchers if needed.

Thomas Slattery, engagement lead at the UK Agri-Tech Centre, says the programme is designed to keep projects practical.

“The ADOPT grants are about helping farmers test ideas by working with other farmers, bringing in additional partners if and when required.

“As well as having the support of a facilitator, farmers might choose to work with other businesses or academics but it’s not essential. What matters most is the project focusing on practical, farmer-led trials to deliver meaningful improvements productivity, sustainability or resilience.”

Funding is available on a rolling basis for projects costing between £50,000 and £100,000. Farmers, growers and foresters receive 80% of project costs. The current round closes on Wednesday 3 June.

One initiative already supported by the scheme is exploring insects as a protein source in broiler production. David Tavernor, lead farmer on the project, says funding has enabled trials to move beyond small-scale testing.

“We had been feeding live black soldier fly larvae to commercial broiler chickens on a very small scale, measuring feed conversion, weight gain and welfare metrics, but only in pens,” he says.

“The ADOPT funding has enabled us to scale this up so we can test those same metrics in full broiler sheds across three trials, making the data more robust and applicable to commercial broiler farming.

Outcomes

The grant has also enabled the project to source the quantity of larvae it needs and to properly test the benefits, says Mr Tavernor. Outcomes will be shared regardless of the result, he adds.

“We want to see if there’s an opportunity to show farmers the benefits of black soldier fly larvae as an alternative protein. If we get good results from this ADOPT project, we can communicate them to other farmers and spread the word. “Even if the results aren’t what we expect, that’s still valuable to know.”