Farmers offered £100k funding boost as Defra opens ADOPT scheme

Farmers are being offered fresh funding to trial new ideas on farm as Defra opens the latest round of its ADOPT innovation programme.

The scheme provides backing for projects worth between £50,000 and £100,000, with farmers able to receive up to 80% of costs. The current round is open until 3 June, giving applicants a limited window to secure support.

The initiative is designed to help farmers, growers and foresters turn practical ideas into on-farm trials, even without previous research experience. However, securing funding is expected to be competitive, with projects needing to demonstrate clear, practical benefits.

The move comes as farm businesses face increasing pressure to improve efficiency and sustainability while managing rising costs and tighter margins.

Applicants only need a concept they want to test but lack the time, funding or expertise to deliver, with the programme offering both financial backing and hands-on guidance.

A key feature is the free ADOPT Support Hub, delivered by ADAS, the UK Agri-Tech Centre and the Soil Association, which helps applicants develop ideas, submit proposals and deliver projects.

Additional grants are also available to work with facilitators, who support application writing as well as project management, reporting and administration.

Collaboration sits at the heart of the programme, with funding prioritised for projects where farmers work together, sometimes alongside businesses or academic partners.

Thomas Slattery, engagement lead at the UK Agri-Tech Centre, said the focus is on practical outcomes.

“What matters most is the project focusing on practical, farmer-led trials to deliver meaningful improvements productivity, sustainability or resilience,” he said.

One project already backed by the programme highlights how the funding can be used in practice.

David Tavernor, who secured support in an earlier round, is leading a trial using insects as an alternative protein source in broiler production.

“We had been feeding live black soldier fly larvae to commercial broiler chickens on a very small scale… but only in pens,” he said.

“The ADOPT funding has enabled us to scale this up… making the data more robust and applicable to commercial broiler farming.”

He said the aim is to assess whether the approach could be adopted more widely across the sector.

“We want to see if there’s an opportunity to show farmers the benefits… and even if the results aren’t what we expect, that’s still valuable to know.”

Defra hopes the programme will encourage more farmer-led innovation and help accelerate the adoption of practical solutions across the industry.