Innovation & ADOPT
Got a farming problem
worth solving?
Some of the best agricultural innovation starts with a farmer saying, "There must be a better way of doing this."
Moorwild helps turn those questions into structured projects — finding the right partners, designing practical trials and identifying the funding to make them happen. You don't need a finished project or a research proposal before getting in touch. A practical question is enough.
You don't need
- —A research proposal
- —Academic partners already identified
- —A finished project plan
- —Detailed knowledge of funding programmes
- —A guaranteed outcome
Moorwild can help
- —Explore whether the question is worth testing
- —Develop the idea into a workable project
- —Find the right partners and collaborators
- —Identify relevant funding streams
- —Design practical on-farm trials
- —Develop applications and budgets
- —Facilitate collaboration and coordinate projects
- —Share useful learning with other farmers
What is ADOPT?
Agricultural Development
on-farm Partnership
and Trials
ADOPT supports farmer-led agricultural development and on-farm trials. Fi is a registered ADOPT facilitator and can support farmers to shape a practical question and plan an application. Eligibility, funding decisions and project roles follow the current programme guidance and agreements between partners.
Who is it for?
- —Farmers with a practical question that deserves a proper answer
- —Growers trying a different approach who want to measure whether it works
- —Groups of farmers dealing with the same challenge who want to work on it together
- —Anyone who's tired of workshops and wants to actually test something on a real farm
How it works
The question
It starts with a practical farming problem — something you've noticed isn't working, or a better way you think might exist. You don't need to have the answer. You just need the question.
Shaping the idea
We work with you to frame the question clearly and think through what a useful answer would actually look like on a real farm. What would you need to measure? What would count as evidence?
Building the project
Finding the right people, designing practical trials, and putting together the structure needed to test the idea properly. This might involve other farmers, agronomists, researchers or commercial partners.
Identifying funding
Considering suitable funding routes against current programme guidance, eligibility and the work a project needs. Fi is a registered ADOPT facilitator; each application and delivery role is agreed with the people involved.
Testing on real farms
Planning how an idea could be tested on a working farm. Any findings are described when evidence is available and shared with partners as agreed.
"Good innovation isn't about proving an idea right. It's about generating enough evidence to make a better decision."
This is one of Moorwild's core principles. Being comfortable with uncertainty — and honest about what the evidence actually shows — is part of what makes farm-level innovation worth doing.
Wilder Thinking
Questions, observations and lessons from farms, projects and the landscape.
Moorwild's journal is being developed as a space for honest thinking about farming — including the questions we're still working through. Content coming as projects develop.
- —Can wetter peat still produce good food?
- —Why environmental grazing still has to pay
- —What does an ADOPT facilitator actually do?
- —Is 'marginal land' the wrong way to think about difficult farmland?
- —What does sustainability ask of the farm underneath it?
Forthcoming articles
Let's work out whether it works.
If you've got a farming challenge that feels like it deserves a proper look, get in touch. We can have an honest conversation about whether a project makes sense — and what a useful next step might look like.
Start a conversation