microscope

Agricultural research is conducted by a range of organisations, from individual farmers, through advisors, distributors, manufacturers, charities, societies, supply chain companies, levy bodies, universities and research institutes.  This page aims to connect across these often disparate sources.

Help us describe the agricultural research landscape in the UK.  Some of the key organisations are listed below:

 

Funders Research Organisations Universities
UKRI Rothamsted Aberystwyth
BBSRC John Innes Aberdeen
NERC James Hutton Institute Cranfield
STFC CEH Edinburgh
Innovate UK IBERS Harper Adams
AHDB RR North Wyke Leeds
PGRO Pirbright Newcastle
BBRO CIEL Nottingham
Defra CHAP Reading
Scottish Govt Agri-EPI Sheffield
Welsh Govt Agrimetrics Bangor
DAERA NIAB RAU
TMAF BGS Lincoln
Soil Association Roslin Hertfordshire
Innovative Farmers   SRUC
AIC FERA Cambridge Crop Science Centre
AICC Organic Research Centre UCD
AFCP STC Oxford University
  ADAS  
  STRI  
  Agrii  
  Agrovista  
  Hutchinsons  
  Frontier  
  AICC  
     

 

Konfer is a useful web platform to find about research, researchers and funding opportunities. Zenodo connects research communities.

Many researchers use ResearchGate to share publications and projects.

All UKRI funded projects are listed on Gateway to Research

Defra projects are searchable at its Science & Projects site.

EU Farmbook is being developed to share outputs from all relevant EU & EIP-Agri projects.

 

Please add any organisations or useful resources that are missing in the comments below

Related Organisations

Content below is from across the PEP community and is not necessarily endorsed by Stewards or by PEP

Topic Comments

Discussion

Scottish Government, Welsh Government and DAERA should be included in the list of funders

1

Connected Content

Science for Sustainable Agriculture aims to ensure the positive contribution of scientific innovation in agriculture and food production is recognised in public life and policy making.

Innovative Farmers was established in 2012 by the Soil Association with the aim of bringing scientific rigour to on-farm trials co-designed by farmers and researchers. With a focus on sustainability and resilience, groups come together on discrete topics and on-farm trials addressing the topics that matter to them.

Farm-PEP aims to bring together all the sources of useful knowledge for Agriculture, whether from academic science, applied research projects, industry trials, farmers own trials or simple on-farm experience. Listed below are useful websites, organisations and websites that we know of.  Add any we've missed in the comments box or by adding as new content, or better still, as a new Group.  

We deliver transformational projects to drive productivity and boost farming and supply chain businesses. We want the industry to thrive in a rapidly changing world and continue to produce high quality food, maintain our beautiful landscape and leave a legacy for generations to come. 

The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs.

The Farming Innovation Programme is part of Defra’s investment in innovation, research and development. Defra is partnering with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on the programme. 

The Agricultural Universities Council (AUC-UK) is a collaboration of the UK universities with agricultural schools or departments. AUC-UK works together to coordinate our teaching and research, to make the biggest contribution we can to a resilient and sustainable future for agriculture, land management and food systems.

DEFRA funding in partnership with Innovate UK, which is looking to support farmers, growers, and foresters who have a bold, ambitious idea. 

Agrii harnesses the power of skilled agronomists and the best intelligence to deliver unrivalled expertise and support for sustainable and profitable farming systems in the UK. 

The International Barley Hub is an initiative seeking to create a platform for the translation of barley research into economic, social, environmental and commercial impacts for the breeding, farming, malting, brewing, feed, food, health and related industries

Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) was established in 2012 through the merger of the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) with Barony, Elmwood and Oatridge Colleges. Through these institutions, we can trace our lineage back over 100 years.

Farm-centric research generally involves On-Farm Experimentation and may be better described as 'Farm Action Research', i.e. research conducted at least in part by and for beneficiaries who also farm. 

Rothamsted Research is a world-leading, non-profit research centre that focuses on strategic agricultural science to the benefit of farmers and society worldwide.

Funding available for research and knowledge exchange in the UK comes from a mix of public, industry and charitable sources

Slug-Resistant Wheat A project to explore the properties of Watkins 788, a landrace wheat believed to be resistant to slugs, never before been grown in the UK. 

As the UK's centre of excellence for peas and beans, the PGRO has a long and highly valued track record of providing authoritative, up to date information and project work based on solid, reliable research.

The British On-Farm Innovation Network   A network of farmers who carry out their own on-farm trials and share the results, seeking a scientifically robust way to progress farm practice.

We create diverse connections to drive positive change.

Thrive through change with the Royal Agricultural University

Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing is an award winning independent publisher founded by Rob Burleigh and Francis Dodds in 2015. Our mission is to bring you the key research and latest trends to empower you to make a positive impact on sustainable agriculture, climate change and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. More information at www.bdspublishing.com.  

Inferring the right conclusions from field trials is important - how confident can you be that a result is 'real' rather than due to the underlying noise? As part of the Farm-PEP FIP project we are working with BGS to explore the best ways to communicate confidence, uncertainty, significance, probability and value with farmers and growers.

As a specialist postgraduate university, Cranfield’s world-class expertise, large-scale facilities and unrivalled industry partnerships are creating leaders in technology and management globally

The James Hutton Institute combines strengths in crops, soils and land use and environmental research, and makes a major contribution to the understanding of key global issues, such as food, energy and environmental security, and developing and promoting effective technological and management solutions to these.

Poster paper given at IFS 2022 by Daniel Kindred, Roger Sylvester-Bradley, Pete Berry and colleagues. Conventional routes to generating knowledge of ‘what works’ in agriculture have relied on (i) farmers developing their experiences and passing these on locally, and (ii) researchers conducting small plot experiments on a limited number of sites, analysing data and drawing conclusions in a more generic top-down fashion. The advent of (i) the internet enabling ideas and data to be shared widely and (ii) precision farming technologies enabling comparisons or trials by farms, provides the opportunity to interconnect the top-down approach with a more robust farm-centric bottom-up approach.

Delivering world-class science for our partners, for the future. Fera Science Ltd (Fera), pioneers in original thinking applied, driving innovative products and techniques to identify and detect emerging threats earlier across agri-food science.

Introducing Naturestimeline and Tony William Powell. Benchmarking Birds. A Freelance Contractor offering clients bespoke Avian conservation monitoring projects.  

Scientific paper looking at the relationships between scientists and farmers:

What web resources do you find useful to find and share knowledge?

An internationally excellent Research Institute” (REF, 2021). Shaping rural development policy and practice in the UK, Europe and further afield.

We are a world-leading independent research organisation providing objective, expert geoscientific data, information and knowledge.

Many of the most telling innovations that make a difference on-farm come from farmers themselves, or from close collaboration between farmers, advisors, industry and researchers

As the population grows, so do our demands on the planet. Managing this resource has never been so important. Since it was founded in 1901, Harper has been designed to meet this challenge. Set on a 494 hectare farm, we are the leading specialist university tackling the future development of our planet's food production, processing, animal sciences, engineering, land management and sustainable business.

The MGA is independently run "by growers for growers".  The farmer led council commissions research on maize and wholecrop agronomy, utilisation and environmental issues.  The results of this work alongside knowledge picked up elsewhere are quickly transferred to members via regular mailings, demonstration sites, conferences and study tours.  

The UK's best-read arable journal

Following the TRUE and LegValue EU projects this LinkedIn group with over 100 members continues to share resources for those interested in legume crops,

Guidance from ADAS Agronomics on how best to conduct Line Trials on farm.  

We bring together bright young researchers and the most eminent in their fields. We stimulate and support their work. Then we celebrate the breakthrough ideas that emerge, and the difference they make to the world.

The Organic Research Centre (ORC) is the UK's leading independent organic research organisation. Changing the future of food and farming.

Silsoe Spray Application Unit is an experienced internationally recognised facility for research, development and bespoke testing, relating to the characterisation of sprays and spray behaviour, with particular expertise in the application of agricultural pesticides.

Report by Lord Curry (Food & Farming Futures), James Lowenburg-DeBoer and Michael Lee (Harper Adams University) into how agricultural science and extension can be supported and co-ordinated to address the productivity gap in UK agriculture.    

Series of articles in CPM reporting results from research projects by AHDB & others

Five farming businesses, progressing through data analysis and knowledge exchange, to enhance the productive, financial and ecological results of our farming.

Innovate UK and BBSRC announce new £16 million competition to drive forward novel, resource efficient, low-emission food production systems.

TALISMAN and SCARAB were long-term projects developed to follow on from issues raised in the Boxworth project. TALISMAN focused on the economic issues of reducing pesticide and fertiliser use, whilst SCARAB examined the ecological side-effects of pesticides.

It’s worth reflecting on why we export most of the pulse crop we produce in the UK, or simply fee

For the first time, universities across the UK have come together t

Innovation in agriculture refers to the development and implementation of new ideas, technologies, and practices in the agricultural sector.

The Morley Agricultural Foundation is a charity that supports farming in the East of England by funding agricultural research, student studies, professional development of farmers and others and a variety of educational projects for school age children.

The Agriculture Knowledge & Innovation System

  https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/north-wyke-farm-platform

A wide range of EU funded projects and networks contribute to the knowledge landscape in agriculture.

EU FarmBook is a collection of vetted best practices for farmers & foresters. All content in the library is provided by Horizon research projects. 

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Food Network+ (SFN) brings together STFC researchers and facilities with research and industry in the agri-food sector.

A TOOLKIT FOR BREEDING RESISTANCE TO ADULT AND LARVAL HERBIVORY BY THE CABBAGE STEM FLEA BEETLE. BBSRC Industrial Partnership project led by Rachel Wells at JIC looking to breed oilseed rape with resistance to CSFB.

Put Science into Practice

Scientific Paper by Rob Bramley, Simon Cook and colleagues in 'Agronomy for Sustainable Development' 2022.

Independent advice, tailored to farmers and horticulturists, tested and validated in practice. We conduct practice-oriented research in function of profitable innovations in West Flanders agriculture and horticulture.

A joint AFCP and NIAB event exploring what research is needed by farmers and stakeholders.  Hear from researchers looking at cover crops for soil structure and health; fungus and plant nutrient exchange; alleviating subsoil compaction; and more.

Innovate UK KTN helps organisations interested in AgriFood innovation access the expert informati

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