Farmers looking for practical ways to make their businesses more resilient to increasingly challenging weather conditions are being encouraged to put their ideas to the test through the latest round of ADOPT funding.

Following a hot, dry summer and with the prospect of wetter, stormier conditions through the winter, the changing weather is raising practical questions for UK farms.

How can soils hold onto more water when it is scarce, while coping better with intense rainfall? Could different crops, varieties or rotations perform more reliably through extremes? Are there practical changes to grazing, livestock systems, water management or infrastructure that could help farms cope?

These are exactly the sorts of questions farmers can investigate through ADOPT trials, with the current Round 9 funding window closing on Wednesday 7 October 2026 and three further rounds of funding confirmed.

ADOPT, which stands for Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies, is a Defra-backed funding programme delivered by Innovate UK. It supports practical, farmer-led, on-farm trials exploring ways to improve productivity, sustainability or resilience.

Projects can investigate anything from soil and water management, crop establishment and livestock systems to new technology, equipment or farming practices. The important point is the idea comes from a practical challenge or opportunity identified by farmers themselves.

Thomas Slattery, ADOPT Lead at the UK Agri-Tech Centre, said:

"Farmers are dealing with weather conditions that are putting very different pressures on their businesses from one season to the next. After a dry summer, attention quickly turns to managing excess water and difficult ground conditions through the winter.

"There will be farmers across the country thinking about practical changes that could make their businesses more resilient. ADOPT gives them an opportunity to investigate those ideas properly on farm, alongside other farmers, and build evidence about what works in real farming conditions.

"You don't need to arrive with a fully formed research project or have experience of running trials. Having something you think could make a difference on your farm which other farmers could learn from too is a good place to start."

ADOPT projects have total costs of between £50,000 and £200,000 and run for six to 24 months. Farmers, growers and foresters can receive funding covering up to 80 per cent of their project costs.

Projects must be collaborative and farmer-led, with the lead farmer, grower or forester based in England and at least one other farmer involved, although farmers do not need a scientific background or previous experience of trial design or project management.

Every funded project works with a registered facilitator chosen by the farmers involved, helping with administration, project management and reporting so farmers can concentrate on the practical trial.

Mr Slattery added: "The starting point does not have to be a new invention. It might be a practice, technology or approach a farmer has seen elsewhere and wants to understand in their own farming system.

"The value comes from testing it properly and sharing the learning. Finding out something does not deliver the expected benefit can be just as useful to other farmers as demonstrating it does."

Applications for Round 9 full ADOPT grants close on Wednesday 7 October at 11am.

Farmers, growers and foresters who have an idea they would like to explore can find information and free support through the ADOPT Support Hub, delivered by ADAS, the UK Agri-Tech Centre and the Soil Association, at farmpep.net/adopt.