On Tuesday, 22nd April, the Precision Agriculture Special Interest Group – co-hosted by Convenor Davina Fillingham and Holly Jones of the Farmer Scientist Network – brought together a dynamic community of farmers, researchers, and Agri-Tech startups at Brew York in York city centre, to explore the latest innovation funding opportunities available at both regional and national levels.
Attendees were introduced to the newly established Precision Agriculture Special Interest Group and gained valuable insights from expert speakers.
Dr Kirsty McInnes, Crop Health Specialist at Agri-Tech Centres, presented the new ADOPT funding initiative, delivered through Innovate UK.
Tracey Preston-Taylor, Sector Manager for Trade & Investment in Engineering Biology, Bioeconomy, and Agri-Tech, highlighted the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority’s newly launched Business Innovation Fund.
Dr Kirsty McInnes said:
These funding opportunities address some of the major challenges associated with the adoption of innovative solutions on-farm.
By financially supporting end user-led trials with networks of people from different sectors, solutions can be better tested, troubleshot and optimised, and training provided to enable their integration into existing systems.
These projects could therefore deliver more meaningful evidence on the impacts of innovative solutions, and build confidence in their adoption on individual farms in the future.
Read on for further details about these funding opportunities.
The ADOPT Funding Opportunity
Delivered by Innovate UK
The Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies Fund (ADOPT) provides collaborative farmer-led, innovation grants to farmers and farm businesses trialling new technology and practices on their farm.
It aims to speed up the development and use of new technologies, allowing more farmers to implement them faster. The funding is designed to support long-term adoption and impact, rather than short-term trials or experiments.
The projects funded through ADOPT will focus on finding solutions that address on-farm challenges, enhance productivity, and contribute to environmental outcomes. The fund also seeks to improve resilience in the face of global food security challenges.
Projects must focus on improving one or more of the following areas:
- Productivity and profitability
- Resilience to challenges such as climate change and market volatility
- Progress towards reducing emissions from farming
Round 1 Overview
Value: £50,000-£100,000 (min. 50% for farmers, growers, foresters)
Duration: 6-24 months (1st November – 31st October 2027).
Portfolio approach across agriculture, horticulture and agro-forestry.
Scope
Project must have potential to improve one of the following:
- productivity
- resilience
- sustainability and progression towards net zero farming
Focus on testing and trialling ideas or solutions that are either new or not yet widely used.
Farmer-led collaboration – work with ≥ 1 other UK farming, growing or forestry business, as well as advisors and researchers.
Demonstrate to other farmers, growers or foresters how the project will benefit them.
Outputs that can be exploited in England.
Additional useful information:
- Project leads MUST have an active farming, growing or forestry business in England and can evidence it’s a commercial business.
- Collaborating businesses and organisations must be UK-based.
- Have an IUK Business Connect-listed Project Facilitator.
- Applicants can lead on 1, collaborate on a further 2 applications.
Dates
Opened 28th April – closes 25th June
Applicants notified 30th July
Projects start from 1st November
Round 2: Opens 26th June
More details to follow soon…
For further details visit:
Business Innovation Fund
Delivered by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority
The Business Innovation Fund aims to achieve greater progress, and at a faster rate, in delivering economic opportunity across York and North Yorkshire by providing the right conditions to attract new investment and support our businesses to be more innovative, productive and resilient.
The funding will support businesses across the wide geography to become more innovative, productive, and resilient. It will enable businesses to better access R&D, innovation and funding support already available, as well as provide complementary support to access identified growth opportunities.
There are 5 programmes of activity:
- Sector Activity Programme
- Spin-Out & Start-Up Programme
- ‘Get Exporting’ programme
- ‘Great Ideas’ innovation programme
- ‘Get Funded’ programme
Within this blog, we focus on the Sector Activity Programme.
Sector Activity Programme / Feasibility Study Grants Programme
Scope
To convene & mobilise clusters within the YNYCA’s high growth sectors: Health & Lifesciences, Bio-Economy, Agri-tech, Digital & Creative, Manufacturing & Rail, as well as the Marine sector in North Yorkshire and the Business & Professional Services sector in the City of York.
Value
- Revenue-based grants of between £3,000 – £50,000 to form and/or develop strategic networks or ‘clusters’ in the sectors specified above. Eligible expenditure would cover costs associated with promoting and hosting networking events and similar activity (total indicative budget of £300K).
- Revenue-based grants of between £3,000 – £30,000 to conduct or fund feasibility studies/ development of business cases, with the aim of attracting future investment to sector[1]strengthening projects/ regional sector assets (total indicative budget of £300K)
Duration
This fund will run from April 2025 to Jan 2027, with potential for an extension of up to 4 years if required.
Dates
Sector Mobilisation Grants
- Phase 1 – programme opened on 1st May 2025, deadline for completed applications is 5pm 30th June 2025
- Phase 2 – programme opens 2nd April 2026, deadline for completed applications is 5pm 30th June 2026
Feasibility Study Grants
- Phase 1 – programme opened on 1st May 2025, deadline for completed applications is 5pm 30th June 2025
- Phase 2 – programme opens on 2nd December 2025, deadline for completed applications is 5pm 28th February 2026
- Phase 3 – programme opens on 3 June 2026, deadline for completed applications is 5pm 1st September 2026
For further details visit:
For any questions or to discuss these initiatives further, please don’t hesitate to contact Davina Fillingham at info@agri-sense.co.uk or Holly Jones at HollyJ@yas.co.uk
