Full ADOPT Grant Round 10 opened on October 8, 2026 for collaborative on-farm trials led by eligible farming, growing or forestry businesses in England. Defra has allocated up to £5 million, delivered with Innovate UK and subject to enough high-quality applications. The official competition closes on December 2 at 11:00am UK time.
Trial scope comes before an equipment wish list
The competition supports testing ideas or solutions that are new or not yet widely used, with benefits for productivity, resilience or sustainability. The published project requirements include total costs of £50,000–£200,000 and a duration of 6–24 months. Projects must start by April 1, 2027 and end by March 31, 2029.
Applicants need a collaboration and a project facilitator listed in the ADOPT database. The lead must be an eligible active business in England and collaborate with at least one other farming, growing or forestry business in the UK. The full official eligibility section remains the reference for checking a proposed team.
Define what the trial will establish
For a farm considering a new approach, the useful starting point is a question that the trial can answer. “Would this change reduce the time spent on this operation under our conditions?” is more specific than a general wish to adopt new technology.
Write down the existing practice, the proposed change, the observations to collect and the person responsible for recording them. Keep a record of conditions that could make one test period different from another. This is an editorial planning suggestion; it is not an official assessment formula or a promise of an award.
Prepare a focused first discussion
- Explain the practical problem and why a trial is needed rather than assuming a purchase will solve it.
- Identify what each collaborating business can contribute and where the work will take place.
- Discuss how findings could be useful beyond the participating farms, including an unsuccessful or inconclusive result.
- Ask the facilitator to check the team’s scope, cost assumptions and responsibilities against the current competition documents.
The £5 million figure is the competition’s overall funding ceiling, not an individual farm’s award. A published opening window also does not establish that a particular cost or project is eligible. Verify those points with the official requirements before committing resources.
This article reviews a competition that opened on October 8; it does not describe an opening on October 12. Source: Full ADOPT Grant Round 10 official overview, checked October 12, 2026. The page does not display a separate publication date.
