Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), delivered with Innovate UK

Full ADOPT Grant: Round 10

Defra's ADOPT grant, part of the Farming Innovation Programme run with Innovate UK, funds farmer-led on-farm trials and demonstrations of new or little-used ideas that could improve productivity, resilience or sustainability and net zero. Projects cost £50,000 to £200,000 in total and must be led by an active farming, growing or forestry business in England working with at least one other UK farming business, with an approved ADOPT Project Facilitator in the team. English, Welsh and Scottish farmers can get up to 80% of their project costs. Closes 11am on 2 December 2026; the total pot is £5 million.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £25,000 – £160,000
Deadline: 45 days left; 2 December
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

The lead must be an active farming, growing or forestry business of any size based in England, able to show it is an established commercial business (sole traders and partnerships included), with an eligible UK bank account
It must collaborate with at least one other active commercial farming, growing or forestry business based anywhere in the UK, and at least 50% of the grant requested by farmers, growers and foresters must go to those based in England
Other UK-registered businesses, academic institutions, charities, not-for-profits, public sector organisations, research organisations and RTOs can join as partners, but charities, CICs and other non-profit organisations cannot lead, and academic institutions cannot lead or apply alone
Members of a farming or growing co-operative should apply individually
The team must include a Project Facilitator listed in the Innovate UK Business Connect ADOPT database
Projects must cost £50,000 to £200,000 in total, last 6 to 24 months, start by 1 April 2027 and end by 31 March 2029
An organisation can lead only one application, and a lead can be a partner in two others; no single organisation can claim more than 70% of total costs

What it funds

Innovative on-farm trials or experiments that test ideas or solutions, new or not yet widely used, to major on-farm or immediate post-farmgate challenges or opportunities, with potential to significantly improve one or more of:

Productivity
Resilience
Sustainability and progression towards net zero farming
Projects in agriculture, horticulture or agro-forestry
Farm trial costs entered as 'other costs', calculated by labour day, hourly rate or rate per hectare (for example labour, tractor and machinery use, fuel and maintenance, seed and fertiliser)
Training or membership costs from relevant bodies during the project
The Project Facilitator, as a subcontractor cost
Up to 80% of project costs for farming, growing or forestry businesses in England, Wales or Scotland; up to 70% for micro or small organisations including Northern Ireland farm businesses; 60% for medium and 50% for large organisations
Up to 100% for RTOs, charities, not-for-profits, public sector and research organisations and 80% of full economic cost for academic institutions doing non-economic research, sharing up to 60% of total project costs

Projects must show other English farmers, growers or foresters how they would benefit and how results will be shared during and after the project.

What it will not fund

Projects that do not benefit farmers, growers or foresters in England
Funded crop variety plot trials
Projects based on existing demonstration trials or projects
Crops or plants for medicinal or pharmaceutical use
Cultivated meat
Equine systems
Wild-caught fisheries
Aquaculture, such as algae and seaweed for human consumption
Fermentation systems for bacteria, yeast or fungi for human consumption
Projects dependent on export performance or on using a set percentage of UK components
Projects with total costs below £50,000 or above £200,000
Leads that are not profit driven, including CICs and charities, and academic institutions as lead or sole applicant

How to apply

Contact the ADOPT Support Hub (run by ADAS) for advice on scope, eligibility and trial practicalities, and to find partners
Choose a Project Facilitator from the Innovate UK Business Connect ADOPT Project Facilitator database and agree a farming partner
The lead starts an application on the Innovation Funding Service (farm businesses not on Companies House can enter their details manually) and invites partners, who enter their own costs
Complete the project details (naming your Project Facilitator in the scope answer), the application questions (including farmer details, trial design, team, outcomes, communication of results, project management and risks, and costs) and the finances
Upload the project plan or Gantt chart and the risk register
Submit by 11am UK time on 2 December 2026; you can reopen and resubmit up to the deadline
Three independent assessors score the application; applicants are notified in January 2027 and projects start by 1 April 2027

The separate ADOPT Facilitator Support Grant (£2,500 to pay a facilitator to help develop the application) is linked from the brief, but the linked round (Round 7) closed on 15 April 2026; it is not required.

Contact Innovate UK at support@iuk.ukri.org or 0300 321 4357 about the application process, and at least 15 working days before the deadline for reasonable adjustments.

Have ready

Innovation Funding Service application with project details, application questions and finances
Project plan or Gantt chart (PDF, up to two A4 pages)
Risk register showing main risks, interdependencies and likely impact (PDF, up to two A4 pages)
Appendix for the trial approach question (optional, PDF, up to two A4 pages)
Team summary appendix (optional, PDF, up to two A4 pages)
Details of each farming partner: name and role, trading names, county of main activity, what is grown or produced and the scale
TRAC costings for any academic partner

Farm trial costs must later be supported with actual usage data to be claimed.

More like this

Other grants open to organisations like yours.