Defra has opened a new £20 million funding round for farm automation, with Farming Minister Stephen Morgan announcing on Monday 3 August that agri-tech businesses can now bid for support. The competition is aimed at projects that bring researchers and farmers together to develop robots and automated systems for planting, tending and harvesting crops. For farming businesses, the pitch is practical rather than flashy. If technology can take pressure off the busiest weeks of the year, it could help growers protect output when labour is short and timing matters most.

The government says the money should speed up tools that can handle work from seed planting to fruit picking, easing one of the oldest pressures in horticulture: finding enough seasonal workers when harvest starts. Morgan's message was that automation should not be treated as a gimmick, but as a way to reduce strain on farms while lifting yields and profits. He also described the funding as a vote of confidence in British ingenuity and a step towards the more modern and resilient farming set out in the government's Farming Roadmap. For growers, that makes this as much a business story as a technology story.

This latest round sits inside the government's Farming Innovation Programme and follows a wider £53 million boost announced recently. According to Defra, that takes the total funding available this year for advanced farming research and technology to £123 million. The programme is delivered with Innovate UK, which says the goal is to move promising ideas out of the lab and on to working farms. Chris Danks, Innovate UK's head of agrifood, said robotics and automation are becoming more important for productivity, sustainability and stronger farm businesses.

One example already in view is Fieldwork Robotics, which has developed a raspberry-picking robot for English farming. The company is now using government funding to make the machine tougher and more reliable before a full commercial rollout. That detail matters. Farmers do not need impressive demonstrations alone; they need equipment that can cope with long days, variable weather and the pressure of a live harvest window. The commercial case will rest on reliability just as much as novelty.

The competition is not limited to crop production. Livestock projects can apply as well, building on work such as Roboscientific's DETECT project, which is developing breath-analysis technology to spot illness in dairy cows before it becomes more serious. Defra says the system is designed to identify bovine respiratory disease early, helping farmers avoid losses, veterinary bills and extra labour. It is a useful reminder that automation on farm is not only about machines in the field; it is also about earlier decisions, closer monitoring and fewer costly setbacks.

This round is broader than the previous automation competition in 2023. Applications are also invited from ornamental plant propagation, growing and monitoring, as well as forestry work covering tree nursery operations, planting and woodland monitoring and management systems. Applications are open now through the Innovation Funding Service website. The wider target remains a government pledge to invest at least £200 million in farming innovation by 2030, but the real test will come later: whether this £20 million helps turn promising prototypes into tools that farmers can afford, trust and use at scale.