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£53 million investment into the Farming Innovation Programme & how Ceres can help
Dr Dannielle Robb
Jun, 30 2026The UK Government has announced an additional £53 million investment into the Farming Innovation Programme (FIP), bringing total funding available through the programme to £123 million during 2026/27. Delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, the programme aims to support farmers, researchers, agri-tech businesses and industry partners to develop, test and adopt innovations that improve productivity, profitability, resilience and environmental outcomes.
With several competitions opening over the coming months, including ADOPT, Feasibility Studies, Small R&D and Farming Futures, there are significant opportunities for businesses and collaborative groups to secure funding for new ideas. Ceres Group are ideally positioned to help innovators, farmers and project consortia design, deliver and maximise the impact of funded projects.
Why collaboration matters
Many funding applications fail not because the technology lacks potential, but because projects struggle to demonstrate:
- Access to suitable trial sites and commercial farming systems
- Engagement from farmers and end users
- Robust data collection and evaluation
- Practical routes to adoption
- Effective dissemination and knowledge exchange
- Strong project coordination
These are all areas where Ceres Group team can add significant value.
How Ceres Group can support funded projects
Farmer engagement
- Recruit suitable host farms and trial participants
- Facilitate farmer groups and stakeholder discussions
- Gather practical feedback to shape project delivery
On-farm trials and evidence generation
- Design and coordinate field-scale trials
- Develop robust monitoring and data collection frameworks
- Assess agronomic, environmental and economic outcomes
Knowledge exchange
- Deliver workshops, webinars and demonstration events
- Translate technical findings into practical farmer-focused insights
- Support dissemination activities required by funders
Project delivery and coordination
- Manage project activities and partner engagement
- Facilitate meetings and reporting processes
- Help keep projects on track, on budget and focused on outcomes
Looking for project partners?
If you’re considering an application to the Farming Innovation Programme, whether you’re an agri-tech start-up, established business, research organisation or farmer-led group, and need support with farmer engagement, knowledge exchange, trial delivery and/or project coordination, we’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to us here.
