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The most comprehensive map of public funding for agricultural research ever compiled sets out how the UK can strengthen farm profitability, food security and resilience while preparing agriculture for the challenges of decades ahead.

The State of Agricultural Research & Innovation 2026 report, produced by the Centre for Agricultural Research Impact (Ag.Impact), will launch on 20 October at a forum in London to discuss the findings and next steps.

The first in a planned annual series, it analyses £1.2 billion of public funding for agricultural research between 2022 and 2026 and compares investment with the priorities of more than 600 survey respondents, including more than 300 farmers, alongside interviews and workshops.

It finds strong agreement across farmers, researchers and other stakeholders for research to address real farming challenges, have practical applications and involve farmers and growers from the outset. For most farmers surveyed, profitable farming is the top priority.

The report identifies opportunities to strengthen the link between research investment and these needs, while developing the long-term evidence and solutions agriculture will need as it faces growing pressure to produce food, restore nature and adapt to climate change and extreme weather.

Professor Tom MacMillan, Chief Executive of Ag.Impact, said: “Research must help farming respond to today’s pressures and prepare for the challenges ahead. Farmers and researchers are telling us they want work to answer real questions, grounded in what happens on farms and producing evidence they can use.

“This report gives us a clearer picture of where funding is going and how this compares with what people need. There are strong foundations to build on, and we can see where changes could make research more beneficial to farming, anticipate future needs and deliver greater public value.”

The findings emphasise the UK’s strengths in foundational science and the applied research capabilities retained by specialist institutes and agricultural universities. They also recognise funders and research organisations are already developing new ways to involve farmers and improve impact.

For example, forage breeding at Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) is an example of how sustained research can help futureproof agriculture. Researchers and industry partners have worked on grasses and legumes for decades, with new grass varieties taking 15–20 years to reach farms.

This timeframe requires stable partnerships, staged funding and clear routes from early science to commercial use. Regular discussions between IBERS and its industry partners help bring together research with farmers’ needs and funding opportunities, demonstrating the value of public investment and industry collaboration over the long term.

Defra’s ADOPT programme of funding, delivered by Innovate UK through the Farming Innovation Programme, is also highlighted as a major step forward. It enables groups of farmers to test their own ideas on farm, with research support and results shared to benefit others.

But the report also finds interdisciplinary and cross-cutting projects account for only around 7% of the funding analysed. It identifies scope for greater coordination across funders, research organisations and the UK’s four nations, with farmers and other stakeholders actively involved in shaping priorities.

It recommends building on existing progress through more accessible farmer-centred research programmes, regular foresight into emerging challenges and reliable long-term funding pathways. Strategic investment in research infrastructure is also needed, including farm networks, skills and data-sharing, alongside specialist facilities and long-term experiments.

Professor MacMillan added: “ADOPT shows the sector can rise to the challenge of putting farmers at the centre of research. Alongside this practical work, we need sustained investment in programmes preparing for the future, where decisions made today will shape the options available to farmers decades from now.

“Better coordination helps organisations share plans, avoid unnecessary duplication and make more of the expertise and resources we already have. We want this evidence to be a useful tool for funders as they decide what to support next.”

Ag.Impact will update the analysis annually and work with research organisations and funders to strengthen the impact and public value of agricultural research.

The report and an interactive dashboard are available at www.ag-impact.org/sari.

ENDS

Media enquiries:  

Please contact Katherine Lewis, Head of Engagement, Ag.Impact, on 07765 256817 or Katherine.Lewis@ag-impact.org  

Notes to editors

​The analysis covers most relevant public research funding for 2022–2026, rather than all agricultural research expenditure. Data for 2026 are incomplete. Private-sector investment is not comprehensively mapped.

The survey received 604 responses: 314 farmers, 194 researchers and 96 other stakeholders. The study also included 21 in-depth interviews, stakeholder workshops and a citizen dialogue process.

The report was supported by a Steering Group representing major public funders, universities and specialist research organisations. Membership does not imply endorsement of all findings.

The Centre for Agricultural Research Impact (Ag.Impact) is a UK not-for-profit working to make UK agricultural research and education more useful to farming and to the public. 

Scotland's growing deer population presents major environmental, economic and public safety challenges, making sustainable deer management an increasingly important policy priority. Creating stronger markets for venison is essential to improving the economic viability of deer management and increasing the utilisation of sustainably sourced wild deer. This study investigated UK consumers' and pet owners' preferences and willingness to pay for venison-based products for human consumption and pet food, and evaluated the effectiveness of pricing strategies, product claims and information provision in increasing demand. The findings identify practical interventions that can support businesses and policymakers in expanding venison markets and strengthening the contribution of sustainable deer management.

Image credit: Johan Mouchet unsplash

In 2023 The Knowledge Bank reported that Scottish venison sales grew by nine percent in Britain and had a 20 percent share of value sales. This component of the research project “Costs and opportunities for Scottish products with higher value status” sought key informants’ views on the opportunities and risks facing Scotland’s venison sector. 

We interviewed participants in the venison supply chain and sector consultants (27 altogether). We used the interview data to run two workshops where participants (15 in all) discussed the risks and opportunities facing the sector. These indicate that there are several opportunities to add value to the venison sector in Scotland and outline the kinds of policy and market development support that could help entrepreneurs to do so.
 

Photo credit: Ben Wicks unsplash

By exploring trends in the British retail venison market between 2013 and 2024 using supermarket purchasing data from around 30,000 households, this study examines consumer demand, retailer offerings, product origin and competition with other meats. Although venison remains a very small share of the meat market, the research identifies changing patterns in retail supply and the factors that influence consumer purchasing. These findings provide evidence to support future market development for the venison sector.

_{Photo credit: Tullia Dean}

A new report, conducted at the Centre for Mountain Studies at UHI Perth and funded by SEFARI Gateway, has called for a fundamental shift in how research involving community landowners is conducted, warning that stronger collaboration and resource investment are needed to ensure research benefits communities, decision-makers, and researchers.

The research highlights the wealth of knowledge held by community landowners and argues that their experience provides evidence for understanding how local ownership contributes to sustainable development and community resilience. However, it concludes that too often research can place significant demands on communities, especially when respondents see very little benefit or meaningful outcomes in return.

The report calls for coordinated action across research institutions, funding bodies, policymakers and community organisations to improve practice. Its recommendations include giving communities greater influence over research design and priorities, improving communication between researchers and communities, addressing institutional barriers – such as funding - that can limit good practice, and recognising that ethical research demands long-term collaboration rather than simply one-off engagements.

Catriona Mallows, Research Associate at the Centre for Mountain Studies, said:

This research has confirmed that there are many positive research engagements with community landowners in Scotland. However, there are instances of poor practice, including repeated requests to participate in research, communities having little influence over research questions, methodologies or outputs, and researchers failing to share their findings. Our report sets out ways to change this pattern and support better research with community landowners. 

The research, which has taken place since early 2025, drew on multi-sectoral workshops, literature reviews and secondary data analysis to explore experiences of research across Scotland’s community land sector.

Among its recommendations, the report calls for researchers to engage with communities earlier in the research process and to undertake background work before approaching organisations and individuals. It also recommends that long-term, trusting and respectful relationships are prioritised over transactional engagement, that research findings are shared in accessible ways beyond formal reports academic outputs, and that ethical approval is viewed as an ongoing commitment rather than an administrative step. 

The research also highlights governance approaches that can strengthen research partnerships, including the use of Memoranda of Understanding and community steering groups. It further recommends recognising and, where appropriate, compensating community members for their time, experience and knowledge, whether through financial means or otherwise.

The findings suggest that many of the challenges experienced by both researchers and communities arise not through individual failings, but because of wider institutional pressures including limited funding, tight project timescales and academic expectations that can make meaningful engagement difficult.

Project lead, Catriona Mallows, added:

...researchers often find themselves balancing the expectations of communities, funders and their own institutions, sometimes at the centre of a complex set of demands and drivers. Our report demonstrates that there are practical principles that can make research better for those involved. This includes building trusting relationships, ensuring open and clear communication between all parties, having those difficult conversations about data ownership and use, and always respecting community experience and knowledge. As part of supporting more ethical and sustainable research, we also encourage universities, research institutions and funders to examine how their own structures support more mutually beneficial research.

Charles Bestwick, Director at SEFARI Gateway, said: “This work is timely and its recommendations identify the crucial need for research centred with communities to prioritise the building of mutual understanding and cooperation. It recognises the critical need for communities to be partners in honing research where it is focused to delivering for communities: research that is done with –  and not to – communities.

The research concludes that ethical research is a shared responsibility and that coordination across the research sector can create more relevant, impactful and trusted evidence while also reducing unnecessary burdens on community landowners. 

The full report sets out a series of recommendations for researchers, funders, policy makers and community organisations themselves in order to support more equitable research on community landownership.

Ends

Notes to editors

• Research was conducted by Catriona Mallows at the Centre for Mountain Studies at UHI Perth and Bobby Macaulay, Community Landownership Academic Network
• Project ran from 2025 – 2026
• Full report available here: https://sefari.scot/document/beyond-ethics-research-engagement-scotlands-community-landowners-final-report

Authors: Catriona Mallows and Bobby Macaulay