The government has made a further £12.5 million available to fund innovative projects helping to deliver a more productive, resilient, and sustainable agricultural sector.
The new £12.5 million ‘On-Farm Environmental Resilience’ competition will see farmers and growers apply for up to £1 million in project costs to drive the development of new technology and innovative farming methods, with a focus on practical solutions that make a real impact on farms.
This competition is split into 2 strands:
Strand 1 – Farming Futures: Feasibility; evaluating emerging solutions with the UK’s world-leading research base, agri-tech businesses, SMEs and the UK agricultural sector to develop innovations in agriculture, forestry and horticulture.
Strand 2 – Farming Futures: Industrial Research; progressing emerging solutions to new products, processes and services with the UK’s world-leading research base, agri-tech businesses, SMEs and the UK agricultural sector to develop innovations in agriculture, forestry and horticulture.
The innovative technologies in the proposal could include one or more of the following biological (biotic) and physical environmental (abiotic) challenges:
integrated pest management (IPM)
detection, prevention and management of diseases
agro-ecology ​
gene editing and breeding
regenerative cropping, livestock and mixed systems​
livestock housing, nutrition, health and management​
innovative fertiliser practices​
soil resilience​
water management and innovation
This list is not exhaustive, however, your project must seek to significantly improve:
productivity
sustainability and environmental impact of farming
progression towards net zero emissions
longer term resilience
food security
The proposal must:
be able to demonstrate how the project will benefit farmers, growers or foresters in England.
start by 1 January 2024
end by 31 December 2025
last between 12 to 24 months
have total costs between £200,000 and £500,000 (for strand 1 feasibility projects), and between £500,000 and £1 million (for strand 2 industrial research projects).
UK registered businesses have until 11am Wednesday 19 July 2023 to apply for funding.