Farming Futures R&D Fund: Automation and Robotics Round 2 is a grant competition funded by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK as part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme.

The competition supports collaborative innovation projects developing ambitious robotics and automation solutions for agriculture, horticulture and forestry. Projects must demonstrate how their outputs will benefit farmers or growers in England.

Funding Amount

• The total funding available is up to £20 million. Funding is provided as a grant.
• Each project's total eligible costs must be between £500,000 and £2.5 million.
• For organisations undertaking commercial or economic activity, funding for industrial research can cover:

• • Up to 70% of eligible project costs for micro or small organisations;
  • Up to 60% for medium-sized organisations;
  • Up to 50% for large organisations.

• Research organisations undertaking non-economic activity can collectively account for up to 30% of total eligible project costs. Within that limit, eligible costs can be funded at up to 100% for RTOs, charities, not-for-profit organisations, public-sector organisations and research organisations, and at 80% of full economic costs (FEC) for academic institutions.

Submission Deadlines

• Opening: 3 August 2026;
• Deadline: 30 September 2026 at 11:00 UK time;
• Applicants invited to interview: 30 October 2026;
• Interview period: 18 to 25 November 2026;
• Applicants notified: 1 December 2026;
• Project start: By 1 March 2027.

Submission Conditions

Applications must be submitted through the Innovation Funding Service (IFS).

Projects must:

• Have total eligible costs between £500,000 and £2.5 million;
• Last between 12 and 36 months;
• Start by 1 March 2027 and end by 28 February 2030;
• Be collaborative;
• Be led by a UK-registered business of any size;
• Include at least one other eligible UK organisation;
• Ensure that no single organisation accounts for more than 70% of total eligible project costs;
• Include at least two organisations applying for funding: the lead and at least one collaborator;
• Explain the rationale and structure of the collaboration.

Any organisation receiving funding must carry out its project work in the UK, intend to exploit the project results in the UK and spend the majority of its funding in the UK.

If farmers, growers or foresters request grant funding, at least 50% of the total grant requested by those organisations must come from farmers, growers or foresters geographically based in England.

A registered business may lead only one application. A business leading an application may additionally participate as a collaborator in up to two further applications.

Eligible Types of Applicants

• The project lead must be a UK-registered business of any size.
• Eligible collaborators include:
  • Businesses of any size;
  • Farmers;
  • Growers;
  • Foresters;
  • Academic institutions;
  • Charities;
  • Not-for-profit organisations;
  • Public-sector organisations;
  • Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs).
• The consortium must be led by a UK-registered business of any size and include at least one other eligible UK organisation. Both the lead and at least one collaborating organisation must apply for funding. No single organisation may account for more than 70% of the project's total eligible costs.

Eligible Countries

• United Kingdom. The project must be led by a UK-registered business, and organisations receiving funding must carry out their project work in the UK, intend to exploit the results in the UK and spend the majority of the funding in the UK. The project must demonstrate benefits for farmers or growers in England.
• EU and other non-UK organisations may participate as non-funded project partners. Their project costs must be covered from their own resources. Non-UK non-funded partners may carry out their project activities in their home countries and exploit the results outside the UK.