Take control of farm challenges with fresh ideas

• Being a farmer means facing daily hurdles, from rising costs to unpredictable weather. ADOPT gives you a chance to trial solutions that fit your farm’s specific challenges and goals.

Get funding and support 

• Many farmers avoid grant programmes because they seem complicated. ADOPT is different: The ADOPT Support Hub and Project Facilitators are here to offer support with your application and project

Make your farm more profitable and sustainable

• By adopting new methods, tools, or technologies, you could save money, improve yield, and cut waste—all while better safeguarding your land for future generations.

Share what works—and learn from others

• If your project succeeds, you’ll help inspire and teach other farmers. If you face setbacks, you’ll still gain valuable lessons and insights you can pass on.

Contact the support hub here to begin your ADOPT journey.

Explore your project idea with us by filling out our webform and we will contact you to help you develop your project idea into an application. Application support is available for Small grants and Full Grants.

Explore our guidance materials for resources that will help you with your application. Go to FarmPEP topics (Link) to see what existing knowledge and research there is on a given subject.

Find upcoming ADOPT events and webinars to see where you can get advice and training.

Advertise your project idea on our connections hub to develop your collaborative project team.

Look at our case studies to inspire your on-farm research and get valuable insights and findings from farms around the country.

Find a Project Facilitator from the Innovate UK Business Connect database. 

Find ADOPT information and eligibility criteria on the Innovate UK Farming Innovation Programme site.

Apply through Innovate UK.

Read our 'Developing Your Idea' guidance.

Look at our case studies to inspire your on-farm research and get valuable insights and findings from farms around the country.

Explore our events for webinars, training opportunities and ideation sessions to help you develop your idea.

Explore our Connections Hub. Someone might have advertised a project in an area you would like to get involved with.

Use our Connections Hub to search for relevant projects or advertise that you are looking to get involved with a project that could involve your product or solution.

Contact the Support Hub via our webform to see how we can help.

ADOPT Facilitator Telephone Number: +44 330 106 6400

ADOPT Facilitator Email: ADOPTfacilitator@iukbc.org.uk

To be included in the Project Facilitator database, you must have:   

• Worked within agriculture, horticulture, forestry for a minimum of five years.
• Facilitation experience, including working with groups of farmers and growers on key projects 
• Experience in successfully supporting and writing R&D/Innovation grant applications  
• Experience with successfully managing R&D/Innovation grant funded projects
• For more information on Project Facilitators follow this Link

Search the Innovate Business Connect Database and find a Project Facilitator with the relevant skillset for your needs. 

If you have someone you would like to work with as a Project Facilitator but they are not registered with Innovate UK Business Connect, they can register here.

In ADOPT, Project Facilitators will provide guidance with the Support Grant and Full Grant.

See the ADOPT Project Facilitator FAQ document.

Apply via Innovate UK Business Connect to be a Project Facilitator on ADOPT funded projects.

Use our guidance materials to help your applicant craft a good application.

Contact the hub via our webform for bespoke support.

Contact the Support Hub via our webform for help with making industry connections for your ADOPT project.

Explore Innovate UK Business Connect services.

Collaboration is fundamental for successful on-farm research. You will be able to understand the problem you are facing and the effectiveness of the solution you are testing far better in a collaborative project. ADOPT projects are intended to support this collaboration to inspire sharing and learning in the industry.

Use our Connections Hub to post what you can offer to a project or browse other people's offerings.

Visit:https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/search. 

Search "ADOPT" in the search and the relevant live ADOPT competitions will come up in the results wherever searched. A briefing recording and information on eligibility criteria are available here.

If requested, the Adopt Support Hub can review applications prior to submission and offer feedback. However, please note that receiving input from the Hub does not guarantee that your application will be approved for funding.

Fill out our webform to receive bespoke project support.

Explore our guidance materials to help you with your project.

Attend one of our events or drop-ins.

Upload your project case study.

See our guidance on project dissemination.

Keep an eye out for ADOPT events and workshops that will provide an opportunity for knowledge exchange.

Contact us for bespoke dissemination support.

ADOPT is one of 5 strands of the Farming Innovation Programme. Explore the alternative areas here.

The Farming Innovation Programme is part of Defra’s investment in innovation, research and development.

Defra is partnering with Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), to fund projects that benefit farmers, growers and foresters in England. 

All funding will be awarded through competitions. This means applications for each competition will be judged, and only the successful ones will be funded. 

The programme’s aims are to: 

• help farmers, growers and foresters increase productivity, sustainability and resilience
• reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and horticulture
• apply agricultural research to provide real benefits for farmers, growers and foresters
• use science to develop solutions for the practical challenges in agriculture and horticulture

To get funding, you must work in collaboration with a team.

Once the competition is open, Innovate UK Business Connect can help you find the right people to work with (opens in new window) on your project. 

Each competition will have webinars or briefing events that will be available on the competition webpage itself.

Check if an idea works in practice as part of the Farming Innovation Programme.

If you’ve been researching an idea that could improve farming, you can apply for funding to check if it will work in practice. 

The ‘Feasibility Studies’ competition is for projects that cost between £200,000 and £500,000.

Projects can last for up to 2 years and should help you decide if it’s worth investing more in the development of a product or service.  

You need to be a business registered in the UK to lead on a ‘Feasibility Studies’ project. Research organisations, farmers and growers, and other businesses can be part of the project team as collaborators.

This competition may be more appropriate for you than ADOPT if your idea is at an earlier stage of development.

UK-registered academic institutions or Research and Technology Organisations (RTO) can apply for up to £20k of Innovate UK Business Connect funding to collaborate with a UK-registered SME to accelerate the development of innovative products, processes or services to drive sustainable production within the UK farmed animal or aquaculture sectors.  

Find more info HERE