First of its kind: Gene-edited crop moves closer to UK farms

A gene-edited barley designed to cut livestock emissions and boost feed efficiency has become the first crop approved under the UK’s new precision breeding rules.

Scientists at Rothamsted Research have secured the country’s first Precision Bred Organism (PBO) marketing notice, a landmark decision that allows the crop to move closer to real-world use while signalling a major shift in how agricultural innovation is regulated.

The barley, developed using CRISPR technology, has been engineered to increase lipid content in plant tissues, producing higher-energy forage for cattle and sheep. Researchers say this could help animals gain more energy from the same feed while also reducing methane emissions during digestion.

The approval confirms the crop meets the criteria set out under the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 and 2025 regulations, enabling further trials, evaluation and potential commercial rollout.

The genetic change itself is relatively small, targeting genes that break down plant oils so that more lipids are retained in the plant. Scientists emphasise that such edits could occur naturally or through conventional breeding, a key factor in its approval following scientific review.

Peter Eastmond, who led the research, said: “This barley has been designed to increase the energy density of forage by boosting lipid levels in the plant.”

He added that higher-energy feed “offers a promising route to reducing methane emissions from ruminant agriculture”, describing the approval as “a major milestone” after years of research.

The decision is being closely watched as an early test of the UK’s post-Brexit approach to gene editing, which aims to streamline innovation while maintaining scientific oversight. However, the technology continues to attract debate, particularly around public perception and how quickly it will be adopted across the food chain.

Freddie Theodoulou, strategic programme leader at Rothamsted, said the move “demonstrates how the UK’s precision breeding framework can enable responsible innovation in crop science”.

He added that traits like this highlight the potential to support “more sustainable agriculture”, particularly through improved feed efficiency and lower emissions.

The crop is now being trialled through the PROBITY initiative, a collaboration between researchers, farmers and supply chain partners designed to test how precision-bred varieties perform under real farming conditions.

Led by the British On-Farm Innovation Network and funded by Defra via Innovate UK, the project aims to generate practical evidence on performance, benefits and usability — a crucial step in determining whether such crops gain widespread uptake on farms.

Alongside the barley, precision-bred wheat varieties targeting improvements in yield and grain quality are also being assessed, pointing to a broader pipeline of gene-edited crops moving towards commercial reality.

The approval marks a significant moment for UK crop science, with its success likely to shape how quickly precision-bred technologies move from the lab into fields — and whether they can deliver measurable gains for both farmers and the environment.