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The UK government, through Defra and Innovate UK, announced a £20 million funding competition to fast-track the development of agricultural robotics and automated farming systems designed to plant, tend, and harvest crops while tackling seasonal labour shortages
The new £20 million competition under the Farming Futures R&D fund invites innovative agri-tech businesses to collaborate with researchers and farmers in England. The initiative targets practical solutions to reduce reliance on seasonal labour, increase productivity, and boost overall farm resilience.
Farming Innovation Programme: Funding overview and broader context
The £20 million boost forms part of a recent £53 million expansion of the Farming Innovation Programme, bringing total agricultural research and tech funding available this year to £123 million.
This investment supports the government’s broader commitment to inject at least £200 million into agricultural innovation by 2030.
The competition opened on August 3, 2026, with applications submitted through the Innovation Funding Service website.
Expanded scope and technology use cases
Unlike previous automation rounds, this funding cycle expands beyond core arable and horticultural crops to include a wider range of agricultural sectors:
Crop production:
Fast-tracking field-ready machinery for automated seed planting, crop tending, and fruit picking.
Commercial Examples:
Supporting innovations such as Fieldwork Robotics (scaling up raspberry-picking robots for commercial use).
Livestock applications:
Funding early-detection tools like Roboscientific’s DETECT project, which uses breath analysis to identify bovine respiratory disease in dairy cattle before symptoms appear.
Expanded sectors:
Welcoming proposals in ornamental plant propagation and monitoring, as well as forestry operations (tree nurseries, automated planting, and woodland monitoring systems).
Key Stakeholder Perspectives
Farming Minister Stephen Morgan
Stated that the funding will ease the burden on farmers struggling to source seasonal workers during peak seasons, characterising it as a “vote of confidence in British ingenuity” and a key step in the government’s Farming Roadmap.
Chris Danks (Head of Agrifood at Innovate UK)
Emphasised that the partnership focuses on bridging the gap between concept and real-world farm application, delivering technologies that solve practical challenges across productivity, sustainability, and operational resilience.