I’m Thomas Slattery, and I lead farmer engagement, communications and knowledge exchange for the ADOPT Support Hub.
Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) funding is available to support farmers, growers and foresters to develop and complete practical trials that test new ideas in real commercial conditions.
It's designed to reduce the risk of trying something new, so farmers can see what works in real farm conditions and share those lessons with others across the industry.
The hub is here to help farmers, growers and foresters in England understand the ADOPT fund and develop practical, ideas that solve some of the challenges they experience every day.
In this post, I’ll explain how to join our webinar, what funding is available, how the Support Hub can help, and how ADOPT funding is helping projects get off the ground.
Join our webinar
On 22 October 2026, from 11am to 12:30pm, the ADOPT Support Hub is hosting a webinar to help you decide if ADOPT is right for your business.
We’ll talk through the latest funding rounds, the types of ideas ADOPT can support, what makes a strong application and how the ADOPT Support Hub can help develop a project.
We’ll be joined by Katie Dubarry from Innovate UK, who’ll give an update on upcoming round dates, the increase in maximum project size, and the eligibility criteria and scale of grants available.
Chris Till from Innovate UK Business Connect will also be there to answer questions on ADOPT project facilitators, including how to find one and how to become one.
At the end, there will be plenty of time to put your questions to the whole panel.
Available funding
The table below includes which grants are available, what they fund, and a link to the guidance:
|
Grant |
Funding available |
Eligible costs and support |
|
Full ADOPT Grant – Round 10
Deadline: 2 December 2026 at 11am |
Farming businesses can receive up to 80% of eligible costs for projects with total costs between £50,000 and £200,000. Other project partners can receive a lower rate. |
Eligible costs can include farmer and staff time; tractor and machinery use; fuel, maintenance and materials; specialist expertise and subcontractors; laboratory or workshop use; data collection, analysis and technical reporting; and eligible use of equipment and capital assets. |
|
ADOPT Facilitator Support Grant – Round 12
Deadline: 11 November 2026 at 11am |
£2,500 grant for farmers, growers and foresters in England to bring in an external Project Facilitator to help with a Full ADOPT Grant application. |
Project Facilitators can help develop project ideas, shape proposals, build partnerships and identify the expertise needed to support a project. |
Free support with your application
You don’t need to have a fully formed research project to get started.
The ADOPT Support Hub is a free, fully funded service delivered by ADAS, the UK Agri-Tech Centre and the Soil Association. It is here to help you shape your idea, understand the application process and connect with the right support.
You can come to the hub with an early idea, a question about whether your project is suitable, or a more developed proposal. The team can help you think through project aims, partnerships, technical input and knowledge exchange so your idea is ready for the next stage.
The hub can also help applicants find an ADOPT project facilitator. Facilitators can support the development of Full ADOPT Grant applications, including bringing partners together and helping to turn a practical challenge into a fundable project.
You can find support and ask for help through the ADOPT support page.
Case studies
You can explore all live and completed ADOPT projects on the ADOPT live projects page.
Helping livestock farmers make more informed breeding decisions
Every breeding season, undetected bull fertility issues can have a significant impact on farm performance and profitability. Bull fertility testing with Dynescan SML Technology is testing whether new technology can help identify potential problems earlier and give farmers greater confidence in their breeding decisions.
Working across two breeding seasons, farmers are trialling equipment that measures sperm quality alongside electronic monitoring of bull behaviour. The project aims to understand whether these tools can help identify underperforming bulls before they are put to work, reducing costly breeding failures and improving herd productivity.
The findings will be shared with beef farmers across England, helping others understand whether the technology could offer practical benefits on farm.
Testing relay cropping in UK arable systems
Relay cropping is an approach where a second crop is sown into an established cereal crop before the first crop is harvested. The live ADOPT project UK Relay Cropping is testing whether this could help arable farms make better use of sunlight, space and water, while keeping living roots in the soil for longer.
At Lower Farm in Oxfordshire, winter barley will be inter-seeded with summer crops such as soya, linseed, sorghum and millet. After the barley is harvested, the summer crops will continue growing, followed by a clover cover crop to help protect and improve the soil over winter.
The trial will use yield data, soil sampling, soil health assessments and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) monitoring to understand how the system performs. If successful, it could provide practical evidence on whether relay cropping can help farmers increase productivity, reduce reliance on inputs and build resilience against extreme weather.
Listen to the podcast
Earlier this year, I joined episode 19 of the Defra Farming podcast to talk about practical, farmer-led innovation.
In this episode, I spoke to two farmers with live ADOPT projects. Bryony Graham, an arable farmer in Essex, is trialling willow as a high-carbon crop and testing compost mixes as a potential peat-free growing medium. Peter Southwell, an arable farmer in East Yorkshire, explained how the Yorkshire Crop Nutrition is bringing farmers together to benchmark crop nutrition and test new technologies.
Their projects show the range of questions ADOPT can help explore, from new crops and soil systems to collaborative trials and technology. They also show why it matters that farmers are leading the work: the trials are grounded in real farm decisions, real constraints and real opportunities.
Forward Look
ADOPT is part of the Farming Innovation Programme, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. Competitions will run until 31 March 2027.
Dates to note for the Full ADOPT Grant:
- 8 October 2026 – Round 10 opens
- 2 December 2026 – Round 10 closes
- 3 December 2026 – Round 11 opens
- 2 February 2027 – Round 11 closes
- 3 February 2027 – Round 12 opens
- 31 March 2027 – Round 12 closes
If you’d like to be notified when new information about funding is available, subscribe to the Defra Farming Blog.
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