Arable farmers are wanted for a project to help drive discussion on precision breeding and share insights with the wider agricultural community.
As part of the Platform to Rate Organisms Bred for Improved Traits and Yield (PROBITY) project, farmers are needed to become 'pathfinders', which is a paid role.
Pathfinders will act as the project's ambassadors and will help build the SequenceCircle - a community launching next month - to include as many farmers as possible.
Together with scientists and plant-breeding representatives, the ambition is that the community becomes a hive of activity.
According to the British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN), which spearheads the project, candidates for the role should be farmers who are seen as leaders within the industry.
They must have effective networks and existing platforms with which they engage with other farmers.
Farmers do not have to support precision breeding but should have a track record of supporting evidence-based and informed opinion, and preferably a passion for innovation, the network explains.
Tom Allen-Stevens, founder of BOFIN said the project had the potential to 'bring about a revolution in how we grow cereals'.
"I encourage anyone wanting to be part of this pivotal project to apply to become a PROBITY pathfinder," he added.
The project, which is a three-year £2.2m farmer-led project, funded by Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, launched earlier this year.
In 2025-2026 up to 25 English farms will participate in on-farm trials which will see the first gene-edited crops to be grown on commercial farms in Europe.
In the meantime, the project’s activities include multiplying up seed of three varieties created through gene-editing.
And SequenceCircle, BOFIN's community to lead discussion on precision-bred crops and help steer the PROBITY project, is launching next month at the machinery event CropTec.
