UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £20 million to develop innovative solutions for automation and robotics in agriculture, horticulture and forestry. This funding is from the Farming Futures R&D fund.
Competition opens: Monday 03 August 2026
Competition closes: Wednesday 30 September 2026 11:00am
Description
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) will invest up to £20 million in innovation projects. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.
This funding is part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme which is delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.
The aim of this competition is to fund collaborative projects with ambitious solutions for robotics and automation in agriculture, horticulture and forestry to:
- address key issues affecting the sector, where automation and robotics can mitigate challenges such as productivity, resource use efficiency, food quality and traceability, waste, crop and animal health, animal welfare and sustainability
- reduce the reliance on seasonal labour in agriculture where automation and robotics are seen as the most viable solution
- support the specific recommendations for automation innovation funding from Defra reviews including the Automation in Horticulture review
- align with the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy that identifies Agri-Tech as a Frontier Industry within the Advanced Manufacturing sector plan
Eligibility
Who can apply
Your project
If your application passes the technical assessment, any awards given to primary agricultural producers are subject to the green box exemption under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.
See further guidance on green box subsidies here WTO Guidance for support in Agriculture. Applicants receiving this type of support must ensure that there is minimal to no distortion of trade and comply with the requirements of Annex 2 of the Agriculture Agreement.
Your project must:
- have total costs between £500,000 and £2.5 million
- last between 12 and 36 months
- start by 1 March 2027
- end by 28 February 2030
- be collaborative
Any organisation receiving funding must carry out its project work in the UK, intend to exploit the results in the UK, and spend most of the funding within the UK.
Scope
Your Proposal
The aim of this competition is to fund collaborative projects with ambitious solutions for robotics and automation in agriculture, horticulture and forestry to:
- address key issues affecting the sector, where automation and robotics can mitigate challenges such as productivity, resource use efficiency, food quality and traceability, waste, crop and animal health, animal welfare and sustainability
- reduce the reliance on seasonal labour in agriculture where automation and robotics are seen as the most viable solution
- support the specific recommendations for automation innovation funding from Defra reviews including the Automation in Horticulture review
- align with the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy that identifies Agri-Tech as a Frontier Industry within the Advanced Manufacturing sector plan
The innovative technologies in your proposal must focus on one or more of the following and be applicable to agriculture, horticulture and forestry:
- robotic and intelligent automated machines and systems for static or mobile operation
- imaging, sensing, and monitoring devices and systems to collect and store data and associated intelligent systems to process data for management records and to drive management decisions and automated actions
- post harvest automation for on farm and immediate post farm gate operations only, including horticultural and field crop preparation, packing and supply chain systems
- intelligent systems for on farm food storage management and monitoring
- intelligent systems for on farm energy management and monitoring
Your project must seek to significantly improve:
- productivity
- sustainability and environmental impact of farming
- progression towards net zero emissions
- longer term resilience
You must be able to demonstrate how the solution and output will benefit farmers, or growers in England.
Portfolio approach
We want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies, markets, themes and locations. We call this a portfolio approach.
Specific Themes
Your project must focus on one or more of the following agricultural, horticultural and forestry production sectors:
Farmed animals
- monogastric
- ruminant
Plant
- broadacre: cereals, root crops, grassland, forage crops
- horticulture: field based and specialist nursery growers
- fruit: top fruit, stone fruit and soft fruit
- orchard
- vineyard
- protected cropping: glass and polytunnel systems
- controlled environment and vertical farming systems
- ornamental plant propagation, growing and monitoring where technology can also be applied to food production
- forestry for tree nursery and planting operations, and for woodland monitoring and management, heavy equipment and harvesting operations are excluded
Projects We Will Not Fund
We are not funding projects that:
- are equine specific
- involve wild caught fisheries
- involve aquaculture for fish production or human consumption
- involve cellular expression of proteins for human consumption or cultivated meat
- involve acellular production systems, fermentation systems for bacteria, yeast or fungi for human consumption
- are for the production of crops or plants for medicinal or pharmaceutical use
- do not benefit farmers, growers or foresters in England
- are relevant to non-food or ornamental plants only
- involve forestry harvesting operations and associated heavy equipment
- involve food processing and manufacturing
- that are primarily to develop another product or technology that have automation only to support the key product or technology
We cannot fund projects that are:
- dependent on export performance: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of its products to another country
- dependent on domestic inputs usage: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it uses a set percentage of UK components in their product
Dates
- 03 August 2026 Competition opens
- 06 August 2026 Online briefing event: join at 2pm (Briefing slides will be available to download from Supporting Information after the event)
- 13 August 2026 Online Q&A session and consortium building event: register to attend
- 30 September 2026 11:00am Competition Closes
- 30 October 2026 Invite to interview
- 18 November 2026 Interview panel starts
- 25 November 2026 Interview panel ends
- 01 December 2026 Applicants notified
- 01 March 2027 Project start by
How to Apply
You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.
What we ask you
The application is split into four sections:
- Project details.
- Application questions.
- Finances.
- Project Impact.
Explore Grant Opportunities with Expert Guidance
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Click here to book a consultation or send a message to discuss the details and explore how you can maximise your chances of success. If you’re seeking support in crafting a compelling application, our experts are here to help. Let’s collaborate to navigate the competition process and unlock new opportunities for your business.
