£20m funding for agricultural automation

The cash boost will fast-track the development of automated technology that can do everything from planting seeds to picking fruit, easing the pressure on farms that struggle to find enough seasonal workers at harvest time. 

The latest cash injection from the government’s Farming Innovation Programme forms part of a recent £53 million boost and takes total funding available this year to £123 million for cutting-edge farming research and technology. 

Companies such as Fieldwork Robotics are already developing robots that are transforming English farming. The firm has built a raspberry-picking robot and is now using government funding to make it tougher and more reliable so it can be rolled out commercially. 

Chris Danks, head of agrifood at Innovate UK, said: "Robotics and automation are becoming increasingly important tools to help farmers improve productivity and build more resilient businesses. Working in partnership with Defra, we’re supporting businesses, researchers and farmers to work together to develop technologies that address real-world challenges across agriculture. This competition will help accelerate innovations from concept to on-farm application, supporting solutions that can improve productivity, sustainability and resilience across the sector."

This round is open to livestock applications too, building on work such as Roboscientific’s DETECT project to develop technology that can sniff out illness in dairy cows before it takes hold. Using breath analysis, the system aims to catch bovine respiratory disease early, an illness that costs farmers dearly in lost animals, vet bills and extra work. 

It also casts the net wider than the previous automation round which ran in 2023, welcoming applications from ornamental plant propagation, growing and monitoring, where the technology could equally be put to work in food-producing horticulture, as well as forestry projects covering tree nursery and planting operations and woodland monitoring and management systems. 

Delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, the government’s Farming Innovation Programme backs bright ideas that solve real problems on English farms. The programme is part of a government pledge to invest at least £200 million in farming innovation by 2030. 

Innovators can find out more and apply through the Innovation Funding Service website.