Small and medium sized farms will soon be able to apply to a share of £5m in grant funding to scale up innovation within the British farming industry.
Opening later this month, Defra's Farming Innovation Investor Partnership Competition aims to accelerate agricultural research and development by blending grant funding with private investment.
It specifically seeks to support projects that have demonstrated the potential to grow and generate revenue, supporting the commercialisation of on-farm technologies that can then be rolled out.
It represents an extension of the £270m Farming Innovation Programme which has so far committed over £100m to support earlier stage R&D projects working on cutting-edge agri technologies.
Examples of these projects include autonomous livestock monitoring systems, robotic fruit harvesting systems and concentrated light weeding using AI.
Others have involved intelligent robotic cow cubicles and digital crop management for the early detection of glasshouse pests and diseases.
Defra is encouraging projects from across the livestock, arable, horticulture, bioeconomy and agroforestry sectors.
Projects should focus on solutions that support productivity, environmental sustainability, progression towards net zero emissions and farming resilience.
Farmers can bid for up to 45% of project costs in grant funding which must be matched by at least twice the amount in private investment.
There is no limit to the level of private investment for projects, Defra says, and previous schemes have shown the ability to attract significantly higher levels of investment.
Farming Minister Mark Spencer said: "Supporting a resilient, sustainable and innovative agriculture sector that puts food on our tables while safeguarding the environment is my priority, and we are working with farmers to deliver this through our new farming schemes and grants.
"By bringing together cutting-edge agri-innovation and public and private investment, we can unlock new technologies that help make our farm businesses as productive as possible."
The competition – funded by Defra, run in partnership with UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and delivered by Innovate UK – opens for applications on Monday 24 July.
By supporting projects at the later-stage of innovation, the competition is expected to drive increased commercialisation and adoption within the industry,.
It also aims to elevate the profile of the agri-tech sector by positioning it as a central focus for UK investors.
