Defra has opened the latest round of its ADOPT (Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies) fund, offering farmers, growers and foresters the opportunity to turn practical ideas into on-farm trials.

The scheme is designed to support farmer-led innovation, with no previous trial experience required. Applicants simply need a concept they want to test but lack the time, funding, knowledge or partnerships to deliver.

ADOPT provides both financial backing and hands-on support to help bring those ideas to life. 

A feature of the programme is the free ADOPT Support Hub, delivered by ADAS, the UK Agri-Tech Centre and the Soil Association. The service supports applicants at every stage from developing an idea and submitting an application through to project delivery and sharing results.

Applicants can also apply for an additional support grant to work with a facilitator, who can help with application writing. Facilitators are involved with all projects to assist with project management, reporting and financial administration.  

Collaboration is central to ADOPT, with grants awarded to projects where farmers work together.

Commenting on ADOPT, Thomas Slattery, Engagement Lead at the UK Agri-Tech Centre, said: "The ADOPT grants are about helping farmers test ideas by working with other farmers, bringing in additional partners if and when required. 

"As well as having the support of a facilitator, farmers might choose to work with other businesses or academics but it's not essential. What matters most is the project focusing on practical, farmer-led trials to deliver meaningful improvements productivity, sustainability or resilience."

ADOPT grants are open to farmers, growers and foresters, with the lead applicant based in England. Collaborators can be located anywhere in the UK. 

Funding is available on a rolling basis for projects with costs of £50-100,000; farmers, growers and foresters receive 80% in return. The current funding round is open until Wednesday 3 June. 

David Tavernor is lead farmer on a project trialling insects as an alternative protein source in broiler production. Having secured a grant in an earlier round of funding, he said: 

"We had been feeding live black soldier fly larvae to commercial broiler chickens on a very small scale, measuring feed conversion, weight gain and welfare metrics, but only in pens. 

The ADOPT funding has enabled us to scale this up so we can test those same metrics in full broiler sheds across three trials, making the data more robust and applicable to commercial broiler farming. It's also enabled us to source the quantity of larvae we need and to properly test the benefits.

"We want to see if there's an opportunity to show farmers the benefits of black soldier fly larvae as an alternative protein. If we get good results from this ADOPT project, we can communicate them to other farmers and spread the word. And even if the results aren't what we expect, that's still valuable to know."

For inspiration, explore the projects currently underway at https://farmpep.net/adopt/live-projects. Spanning everything from horticulture and arable farming to livestock and agroecology, these initiatives showcase the breadth of innovation across the sector, offering opportunities whatever your focus.