A new ADOPT project to advance practical crop benchmarking

Ceres Research is pleased to be partnering in a newly awarded Innovate UK ADOPT project: Technical Benchmarking for Improved Farm Performance. We will be working alongside Agronomy Research Circle, Assimila, and two innovative arable farmers, Will Oliver and David Passmore, who will each lead regional farmer benchmarking groups.

The project brings together farmer-led benchmarking, independent agronomy, and digital crop metrics to tackle one of the most persistent challenges in arable farming: large, poorly understood variation in crop performance between fields, seasons, and farms.

What is the project about?

The project will evaluate whether combining satellite-derived crop metrics with farm-derived and benchmarked crop data can provide more useful, timely, and actionable insight into crop performance. The focus is on understanding why crops perform differently, identifying where yields and margins are below potential, and supporting better agronomic and management decisions.

A key emphasis is on usability. Rather than developing new technology, the project will test how existing datasets and tools can be joined up in a way that fits normal farm routines and supports both in-season decisions and longer-term strategic thinking.

What will the project deliver?

Working with two small regional farmer groups, the project will deliver:

• Field-scale benchmarking that integrates satellite-derived crop metrics generated by Assimila, farm records, and established technical benchmarks.
• Practical visualisations that allow farmers to compare crops across fields, seasons, and peer farms.
• Farmer-led benchmarking groups, facilitated by Ceres Research and Agronomy Research Circle, to interpret results, challenge assumptions, and share learning.
• Independent evaluation of the technical, economic, and behavioural value of joined-up benchmarking, including barriers to routine use.

Ceres Research will lead on farmer engagement, data integration, and evaluation, ensuring learning remains grounded in commercial farm decision-making.

What are the expected outcomes?

By co-designing and testing the approach with farmers, the project aims to generate clear evidence of what benchmarking information they actually find useful, what influences confidence and behaviour, and where digital crop metrics genuinely add value.

The findings will inform how integrated benchmarking approaches could be scaled across UK arable farming, helping to improve productivity, resilience, and confidence in crop management through better use of data and shared learning.

Looking ahead

This ADOPT project represents an important opportunity to test ideas in practice, learn collaboratively, and build evidence around farmer-led crop benchmarking. We look forward to sharing insights as the project progresses and contributing to wider discussion on how data-driven approaches can support better on-farm decisions.

If you would like to discuss an idea or get in touch, please reach out to Alex here.