Get a Share of £4.5M for On‑Farm Trials: Full ADOPT Grant Round Five (Grant for Farming, Growing and Forestry Businesses in England)

If you run a farm, a forestry business, or a growing enterprise in England and you’ve been itching to test a new practice, technology or partnership at scale, this competition is built for you. Full ADOPT Grant Round Five is offering a share of up to £4.5 million to fund on‑farm trial and demonstration projects that help more farmers and growers adopt practical, proven solutions.

This isn’t about glossy lab prototypes or theoretical models. It’s about boots‑on‑the‑ground trials, visible demonstrations and convincing other farmers that an idea actually works at real scale. Think of it as the bridge between a promising pilot and a practice that becomes part of regular farm management.

Below I walk you through what the grant actually offers, who should apply, exactly what you’ll need to put together, how panels judge proposals, and dozens of hands‑on tips that make reviewers sit up and take notice. If you want to run a credible on‑farm trial and get funding to show other farmers the real results, read on.

At a Glance

Why This Opportunity Matters (Introduction)

If you’ve ever watched a pilot succeed in a controlled setting only to fail when scaled or handed to another farm, you know the problem: adoption is the hard part. New ideas can stumble not because they’re useless, but because nobody has shown they work in a variety of real conditions, and farmers are rightly cautious about changing systems that pay the bills.

Full ADOPT Grant Round Five is targeted at that hard moment — the gap between a promising prototype or practice and widespread use. The programme funds trials and demonstration projects designed to show other farmers what works, how much it costs, and what the risks are. A successful demonstration converts skepticism into action.

Beyond cash, a funded project gets credibility. When Innovate UK backs a trial, other farmers, suppliers and buyers pay attention. Use that attention: design visible demonstrations, publish straightforward results, and make sure other farmers can repeat what you do.

What This Opportunity Offers

This competition provides a share of up to £4.5 million to eligible projects. The money is intended to cover on‑farm trial and demonstration costs — staff time, equipment hire or purchase, consumables, monitoring and evaluation, dissemination activities (open days, demonstration events, farm walks), and practical support for collaborators. It’s not just research funding; the priority is proving real‑world value and creating clear pathways to adoption.

Practical benefits:

• Funding for demonstration infrastructure (e.g., trial plots, sensors, trial livestock groups).
• Support for monitoring and evaluation so you can present robust, comparable results.
• Resources to run outreach activities (training sessions, farm walks, field days).
• Opportunity to form stronger partnerships with other farmers and supply chain actors.
• Visibility through Innovate UK networks — a useful reputational boost when you want to scale beyond the consortium.

Bear in mind: this is a competition for collaborations. The fund rewards projects that show adoption potential across multiple farms and systems. Projects that merely test in a single field without showing how others can replicate it will struggle.

Who Should Apply

This grant is for active farming, growing or forestry businesses based in England that are ready to lead a collaborative on‑farm demonstration. That includes sole traders, partnerships and incorporated businesses — as long as you can show you are established and operational.

Good fits:

• A family farm testing a new water‑saving irrigation method across several fields with neighbouring farms taking the same approach.
• A tree nursery trialling a new sheltering method with nearby woodland owners to show improved sapling survival.
• A horticultural grower piloting an integrated pest management system with packhouses and other growers to demonstrate yield and quality benefits.
• A cooperative of arable and livestock farms running rotations that integrate cover crops and measuring financial and soil health outcomes.

Less likely to be successful:

• Projects led by non‑farming organisations where the farm role is peripheral.
• Trials that are purely technical lab research without farmer engagement or clear adoption plans.
• Ideas that lack a pathway for other farms to replicate due to excessive cost, highly specialised equipment, or regulatory barriers that aren’t addressed.

If you’re a farm business with a practical, testable idea and at least one other farming partner in the UK who will take part, you should consider applying. Collaboration matters: evidence that other farms can and will adopt the approach is central.

Eligibility and Partnership Requirements (Detailed)

To lead a project your organisation must:

• Be an active farming, growing or forestry business based in England.
• Be able to evidence that you are an established business — this can include sole traders and partnerships but you must produce documentation proving your trading status.
• Collaborate with at least one other farming business based in the UK (the lead must not be acting alone).

The competition is explicitly open only to collaborative proposals. That means you’ll need Memoranda of Understanding or letters of intent from collaborators, clear roles and responsibilities, and an explanation of how the trial design covers the variability necessary to convince other farmers.

Insider Tips for a Winning Application (300+ words)

This is where applicants win or lose: practical clarity beats visionary language. Review panels want to fund trials that deliver evidence and adoption pathways. Here are detailed, tactical tips:

1. Write the adoption story first. Start your application by describing the farmer who will use this approach in plain terms: what problem do they have, how will this solution change daily practice, and how will you convince them to try it? Use that narrative to structure objectives and metrics.

2. Co‑design with farmers. Projects where the trial was planned with participating farmers score much higher. Show minutes of meetings, farmer workshops, or signed collaboration statements. If a farm agreed to host a demonstration only after seeing a complete plan, say so — that’s evidence of buy‑in.

3. Make metrics tangible. Don’t say “improve efficiency.” Say “reduce diesel use by X litres/ha” or “increase marketable yield by Y%” and explain how you’ll measure it. Include baseline data if you have it.

4. Build a realistic budget. Itemise costs and justify them. If you request money for machinery, explain whether you’ll buy, lease or share it among partners. Fund reviewers pay attention to cost per hectare or per demonstration site — show you’ve thought this through.

5. Plan clear dissemination. Funded projects should be able to show other farmers what to do. Propose at least three dissemination channels: farm walks, short practical videos, and a one‑page how‑to guide. Explain timing — a field day in October after harvest won’t help spring planting decisions.

6. Demonstrate replication. Explain how another farm with different soil, climate or labour constraints could adopt your method. Provide alternative equipment lists or scaled costings to show applicability to small and larger operations.

7. Don’t hide risks — manage them. Identify the main technical and practical risks and give realistic mitigation steps. If a trial relies on a particular weather pattern, explain how you’ll run multi‑site trials or model outcomes under different conditions.

8. Show institutional support. Letters from agricultural consultants, processors or local extension services that commit to sharing results increase credibility. If you can secure a supply chain partner who will guarantee offtake for a new crop, mention it.

9. Monitoring and data handling. Outline how you’ll collect, store and share data. Be specific about units, frequency of measurement and who will analyze the results. Propose a short data management plan even if the portal asks for one elsewhere.

10. Use plain English. Your reviewers include practical farmers and specialists. Avoid jargon and acronyms; explain any technical term in one sentence.

Follow these tips and your application will read like a field manual, not a wish list.

Application Timeline (Working Back from 15 January 2026)

Start early. This timeline assumes a 15 January 2026 11:00 UK time deadline.

• Mid October 2025: Form the consortium and hold the first planning meeting. Identify lead responsibilities and assign writing tasks.
• Early November 2025: Draft project overview, objectives, and headline metrics. Identify required letters of support and request them now (they take time).
• Mid November 2025: Complete budget draft and Gantt chart. Run the budget past your accountant or farm business advisor for realism.
• Late November 2025: Assemble monitoring and data collection protocols. Finalise M&E roles and responsibilities.
• Early December 2025: Circulate full draft to all partners for review. Get external readers (a practical farmer not in your field and an experienced grant writer) to comment.
• Mid December 2025: Lock down letters of collaboration and institutional statements. Begin final edits.
• Early January 2026: Final proofread and compliance check. Ensure all supporting documents are in the correct format for the Innovation Funding Service.
• 13 January 2026: Submit at least 48 hours before the deadline to avoid last‑minute technical problems.
• 15 January 2026 11:00: Deadline.

Pad every deadline by at least a week if internal institutional approvals are required. Missing a signature or a required attachment is a common cause of rejection.

Required Materials (What to Prepare and How to Prepare It)

The application will require standard and sector‑specific documents. Prepare these thoughtfully:

• Project description / case for support: A clear narrative describing objectives, methods, trial sites, and expected outcomes. Include a simple diagram or map of trial locations.
• Detailed budget and justification: Itemised costs tied directly to activities. Include cost per site and contingency funds.
• Gantt chart or timeline: Show key milestones, monitoring points, dissemination events, and decision gates.
• Letters of support / collaboration: Signed documents from partner farms and any external stakeholders, such as supply chain partners or advisors, confirming roles and contributions.
• Evidence of business operation: For leads and collaborating farms — tax records, business registration, or other proof that you are trading.
• Monitoring and evaluation plan: Specific metrics, measurement methods and who will carry out analysis.
• Risk assessment: Practical risks (biosecurity, animal welfare, environmental impacts) and mitigation plans.
• CVs or short bios: Highlight relevant experience for the key personnel who will run the trial.
• Data management plan: How you will store and share trial data and what will be publicly available.
• Any regulatory approvals if relevant: Permits for protected species work, animal experiment licences, or pesticide tests.

Prepare light templates for letters of support to make it easy for busy farmers to sign. Keep all files organised with clear filenames and dates to avoid confusion during upload.

What Makes an Application Stand Out (Evaluation Perspective)

Reviewers look for clarity, practicality and replication potential. Strong applications typically show:

• Clear, measurable outcomes linked to farmer decisions. If you can show a straightforward economic case — cost per hectare saved, extra revenue per tonne — you’ll capture attention.
• Multi‑site or multi‑partner testing that covers realistic variability. A single‑farm, single‑season test is rarely persuasive.
• Strong farmer leadership and buy‑in. Projects led by farmers, not consultants, demonstrate ownership.
• Credible monitoring and analysis. Data that can be compared across sites using consistent methods is valuable.
• A practical plan for getting results into hands of other farmers: open days, short how‑to guides, videos, and partnerships with local advisory services.
• Environmental and regulatory considerations anticipated and addressed. If the trial has implications for soil health, water quality or biodiversity, articulate how you will measure and manage those impacts.

Think like a farmer reading your application: would they be willing to try this on a paddock or plot next season? If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track.

Common Mistakes to Avoid (and How to Fix Them)

1. Vague outcomes. Fix: Translate aims into numbers. Replace “improve soil health” with “increase soil organic matter by 0.5 percentage points over 24 months” and explain measurement.
2. Weak partner commitments. Fix: Get signed letters from collaborating farms that name their contribution, dates and resources.
3. Unrealistic budget assumptions. Fix: Cost equipment, labour and travel realistically. Show quotes if possible.
4. Poor dissemination planning. Fix: Schedule at least two in‑season events, and plan short, practical outputs (one‑page checklists, short videos).
5. Ignoring regulatory issues. Fix: Flag permits and welfare approvals early and show timelines for obtaining them.
6. Last‑minute submission. Fix: Aim to upload 48–72 hours before the deadline and test the portal in advance.

Avoid these pitfalls and your proposal will read as careful, practical and credible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can a non‑English farm be a partner?
A: The lead must be an active farm, grower or forestry business based in England. Partners can be based elsewhere in the UK, but make sure the application explains how non‑England sites contribute to adoption in English contexts.

Q: Is there a minimum or maximum project size?
A: The competition offers a share of the overall £4.5M pot. Innovate UK typically funds a range of project sizes, but you should justify the size with scope and replication ambition. If in doubt, propose a budget that covers your essential work and scalable demonstrations.

Q: Can research organisations be partners?
A: Yes — but the lead must be a qualifying farm/grower/forestry business. Academic or technical partners should play a support role with specific monitoring or analysis responsibilities.

Q: Will Innovate UK purchase equipment for the project?
A: Funding can be used to buy or lease equipment if justified in the budget. Provide quotes and explain whether equipment will be shared, rotated or left with hosts after the project.

Q: Can I reapply if unsuccessful?
A: Yes. Use reviewer feedback to strengthen resubmission. Demonstrating follow‑up changes and stronger farmer engagement increases future chances.

Q: How long will it take to hear back?
A: Decision timelines vary. Expect at least several weeks to a few months for assessment and award decisions. The portal or competition documents will give the official schedule.

Q: Do projects need to run for a full year?
A: Not necessarily, but trials should be long enough to produce meaningful, replicable results. The project timeline should match the agricultural cycle relevant to your activity.

Next Steps and How to Apply

Ready to get started? Do these five things in the next two weeks:

1. Convene your project partners and confirm an England‑based lead.
2. Draft a short project summary (one page) that states the problem, the trial plan, the key metrics and why other farmers will adopt.
3. Assemble signed letters of commitment from all farm partners and any supply chain actors.
4. Prepare a provisional budget with quotes for major items and a simple Gantt chart.
5. Visit the Innovation Funding Service and register, then review the full application guidance.

How to Apply

Ready to apply? Visit the official opportunity page for full details, application guidance and the Innovation Funding Service portal:
https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/full-adopt-grant-round-five/

If you have questions about eligibility or need clarification on documentation, contact the programme officers listed on the UKRI page early — they can often answer practical queries and save you time. And seriously: start early. The best applications look like they were built on the back of practical planning and lots of farmer conversations, not a last‑minute scramble.