TO BE PUBLISHED January 2027
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This conference will examine next steps for agri-tech growth and adoption in England, in the context of wider UK developments in innovation and advanced manufacturing.
The agenda includes a focus on the practical and commercial questions facing farmers, growers, technology developers, investors and food businesses integrating new technologies, and as innovations move from trials into everyday use. Areas for discussion include the costs, risks and potential returns from adopting new technology on farms, approaches to supporting wider uptake, and routes from research and testing to commercial use and growth potential for developers. Sessions will also consider the use of AI, automation and robotics, farm data and digital infrastructure, and precision breeding regulation and market access.
With the Farming Roadmap 2050 published by the Government in June 2026 placing technology at the centre of its plans for farm profitability, the conference will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to assess factors determining whether new technology is a viable investment for farm businesses of different types, sizes and tenures, how far current funding and support arrangements are helping in practice, and options going forward. This includes the Farming Innovation Programme which has been extended to at least 2030-31, and its effectiveness for funding farmers, researchers and businesses to develop and test new technologies, with its latest robotics and R&D partnership competitions now closed.
With agri-tech also identified as one of six frontier industries in the UK-wide Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, attendees will consider what is needed to take proven technologies into manufacture and onto farms at scale. Energy costs and grid access will also be considered for technologies with significant power requirements.
The agenda will explore factors affecting farm investment decisions, including the affordability of new technology and the evidence of return farmers need before committing capital. Sessions will also examine wider pressures on business planning, such as the experience of the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026, which closed the second application window within hours of opening, as well as changes to agricultural property relief. It also takes place following the High Court’s June 2026 ruling on the lawfulness of the decision to introduce England's precision breeding regulations without proper consideration of mandatory labelling, with the regime still in operation and the first precision bred confirmations already issued. Together with ongoing UK-EU SPS negotiations, discussion is expected on next steps amidst uncertainty for breeders, farmers and food businesses.
Investment, costs & the business case for adoption
Discussion will assess conditions needed for commitment from farm businesses, alongside what developers need in turn to bring products forward at a price farmers can afford, looking at where costs and risks of adopting new technology currently fall between farms, developers, lenders and supply chains, and what different approaches to sharing them might mean for uptake.
Areas for discussion include:
- costs & returns: upfront capital costs - evidence of performance and payback under commercial conditions - managing risk and uncertainty
- finance & ownership: access to finance across farm sizes and tenures - leasing, contracting and shared-ownership models - reducing upfront capital exposure
- public support: demand for Capital Grants and equipment funding - whether support reaches smaller and tenanted businesses - measures of farm-level value
- business planning: experience of SFI26 and its allocation process - design of SFI27 - implications of agricultural property relief changes for long-term investment
- energy & grid access:
- costs for controlled-environment agriculture, refrigeration, automation and electrified machinery
- grid connection costs and timescales at distribution level - on-farm generation, storage and efficiency
- developer perspective: customer demand and routes to market - procurement - the commercial environment for agri-tech businesses
Research, testing & routes to commercial use
Sessions will examine the pathway from research and farmer-led trials to products farmers can buy, rely on and have serviced, and assess why some promising technologies are stalling along the way.
Areas for discussion include:
- farmer-led testing: ADOPT trials and the Farmer Collaboration Fund - demonstration and peer learning - farmer involvement in setting priorities
- evidence & advice: independent validation - performance under commercial farming conditions - access to trusted, impartial advice
- from trial to market: continuity between research, testing, manufacturing and deployment - outcomes from recent FIP competitions - certification and routes to market
- scale-up: AgriScale and Investor Partnerships - manufacturing capacity and supply-chain constraints - investor confidence and exports
- skills & servicing: digital capability among farmers and advisers - servicing and technical support - agricultural engineering skills
- farm-level outcomes: how adoption and progress are measured - costs, yields, input use and resilience - value for money of the FIP and the Genetic Improvement Networks
AI, automation & farm data
Applications for AI, robotics and autonomous systems across different farming sectors will be considered, including evidence of their effectiveness and readiness for wider adoption, the costs and potential returns for businesses, as well as the standards, connectivity and data arrangements they depend on.
Areas for discussion include:
- applications: arable, horticulture, livestock and other sectors - labour pressures and the continuing need for seasonal labour - integration with existing machinery and farm systems
- safety & responsibility: human oversight - liability and insurance - cybersecurity
- standards & assurance: testing and certification for autonomous equipment - emerging approaches to regulation - the role of industry-led standards
- farm data: ownership, consent, portability and commercial use - the planned single digital farming account - interoperability between systems
- connectivity: rural coverage - digital exclusion - practical benefits of data sharing for farmers
Precision breeding, regulation & market access
Delegates will assess early experience of England’s precision breeding regime and the uncertainties now surrounding it, alongside wider questions of regulatory alignment and market access.
Areas for discussion include:
- the regime in practice: Defra confirmation and FSA authorisation processes - evidence requirements - seed labelling and variety listing
- labelling & traceability: implications of the High Court ruling - consumer confidence and communication of benefits and risks - organic and non-GM supply chains
- UK-EU alignment:
- treatment of precision breeding in SPS negotiations - interaction with the EU’s new genomic techniques rules
- implications of dynamic alignment for crop protection products and other inputs
- supply chains: implications for breeders, processors, exporters and retailers - differing approaches across UK nations
- investment: confidence in England as a place to develop and trial new varieties - intellectual property - applications in crop improvement, disease resistance and resilience
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, NI; Food Standards Agency; Health and Safety Executive; and the Welsh Government.
