Aims/priorities: The Farming Futures R&D Fund comprises two funding competitions focused on innovation in agriculture: the Precision Breeding Competition and the Low Emissions Farming Competition.
The Precision Breeding Competition supports collaborative industrial research projects aimed at developing precision breeding solutions in either horticultural or arable crop production. Projects must demonstrate benefits for farmers or growers in England. Areas of focus include improved crop yields, enhanced resilience to pests and climate change, shorter growth cycles, improved storage and nutritional characteristics, and reduced allergens or toxins.
The Low Emissions Farming Competition funds collaborative projects that develop new solutions to help UK agriculture reduce emissions. Projects must address on-farm or immediate post-farmgate challenges and demonstrate measurable impacts through life cycle assessments. Key requirements include showing potential for carbon foot printing, wider environmental benefits, and alignment with industry priorities. Solutions should also contribute to improved productivity, resilience, and sustainability on farms in England.
Both competitions aim to support innovation that aligns with national agricultural priorities, encouraging knowledge exchange and increased market readiness of new technologies.
Who can apply? Both the Precision Breeding and Low Emissions Farming competitions are open to collaborative projects only.
For the Precision Breeding Competition, the lead organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. The lead must collaborate with at least one other UK registered organisation, which may include businesses, academic institutions, research and technology organisations (RTOs), charities, not-for-profits, or public sector organisations.
The Low Emissions Farming Competition allows the lead applicant to be a UK registered business of any size, academic institution, or RTO. Projects must include collaboration with at least one eligible UK registered grant-claiming business of any size. Additional collaborators may include academic institutions, RTOs, charities, not-for-profits, and public sector organisations.
In both competitions, applicants must be able to demonstrate how the project will benefit farmers, growers, or foresters in England.
Grant amount: Defra has allocated up to £12.5 million to fund industrial research projects.
For both competitions, each project’s total eligible costs must be between £1 million and £2.5 million.
Application process: Applications are made online.
More information is available at the IUK website.
Deadline: Applications are open between 5 May 2025 and 25 June 2025 (11:00).
Contact information: Email: support@iuk.ukri.org