Deadline Date: June 3, 2026
The Innovate UK is requesting grant applications to support farming, growing, and forestry businesses in England to test and demonstrate innovative on-farm solutions that improve productivity, resilience, and sustainability in the agricultural sector.
The programme focuses on on-farm trials and experiments, agricultural innovation, improving productivity, enhancing resilience, advancing sustainability and net zero farming, testing new or underused solutions, knowledge sharing and demonstration, and addressing key challenges in agriculture, horticulture, and agro-forestry.
This funding opportunity offers a share of up to £5 million to support practical on-farm trial and demonstration projects. The aim is to encourage innovation in real farming conditions by testing new ideas or solutions that address significant challenges or opportunities at farm level or immediately post-farmgate.
Projects supported under this grant must demonstrate clear benefits for farmers, growers, or foresters in England. Applicants are expected to design trials that can be shared widely, ensuring that results and insights are communicated effectively to the farming community both during and after the project period.
The initiative prioritises projects that introduce ideas or technologies that are new or not yet widely adopted. Each project must clearly show how it will contribute to at least one of the key priorities, including improving productivity, strengthening resilience, or supporting sustainability and progress towards net zero farming practices.
Eligible projects must address challenges or opportunities within agriculture, horticulture, or agro-forestry sectors. The total project cost must fall between £50,000 and £100,000, and project duration should range from 6 to 24 months.
All funded activities must take place in the UK, with a requirement that project outcomes are intended for use or commercialisation within the UK. Projects must begin on the first day of the month following approval of the grant offer.
Certain types of projects are not eligible for funding, including those that do not benefit English farmers, established demonstration trials, medicinal or pharmaceutical crop production, cultivated meat, equine systems, wild-caught fisheries, and similar excluded categories.
Applicants must ensure that their project is designed to generate practical, shareable results that can support wider adoption of innovation across the farming sector in England.
For more information, visit GOV.UK.
