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The Agronomy Research Circle (ARC) is a community bringing together farmers, researchers, advisors and agri-tech companies to develop practical knowledge for agriculture. We connect people, data and experience to generate, analyse and share knowledge that supports better farming decisions. Whether testing a new technology, evaluating an established practice, or learning from the experience of others, ARC helps turn information into practical understanding.

Join ARC Innovators to access research opportunities, project results and a growing network of engaged farmers, researchers and advisors.

Farmers make hundreds of decisions each season, often with incomplete information and considerable uncertainty. ARC exists to help improve those decisions by bringing together experience, evidence, experimentation and shared explanations. By working collaboratively, we can better understand what drives performance and where opportunities for improvement exist.

Ideas for research and trials in ARC can come from anywhere. They might start with a farmer's observation, a practical challenge, an unexpected result, a new technology, or a gap in existing knowledge.

ARC helps develop ideas into collaborative projects, bringing together farmers, researchers, advisors and technology providers where appropriate. By combining different perspectives and expertise, we help design and deliver projects that generate practical evidence under real farm conditions. We support project design, funding applications, delivery and knowledge exchange, ensuring that the learning generated is relevant, practical and widely shared.

We bring together four elements to help understand works on farm through explanations, evidence, experiments and exchange.

Four Elements for finding What Works

ARC uses four elements to help find, test, prove and share what works on farm.

Explain – Define the question and develop a shared understanding of how something works, use simple diagrams ond narratives.

Evidence – integrate on-farm records and measurement data for benchmarking of performance and to identify and test associations.

Experiment – Any decision can be tested in simple side by side comparisons in-field. The ARC Farm Trials Tool uses satellite imagery to help place treatments fairly, and monitor differences.

Exchange – Share experiences, results and perspectives to challenge assumptions, refine understanding and accelerate learning across the wider community.

Farmers & Growers

Test ideas and join trials in real farm conditions. Learn and share experience in the ARC network.

Independent information about what works on farm
Be first to learn about research opportunities
Develop trials and research that tackles challenges on you farm
Professional network focused on agronomy and farm manangement
Support accessing ADOPT funding

Join today

Agronomists & Researchers

Connect agronomic science to real-farm implementation with a network of engaged farmers.

Shape projects around genuine farm questions
Collaborate with engaged growers and partners
Generate practically useful results

Join our network

Ag-tech companies

Test your technology in real conditions with a credible, farmer-led route to ADOPT funding.

Access to a network of farmers who are intertested and have experience of conducting trials
Improve faster with honest, detail-focused feedback
Build real-world evidence that supports adoption

Learn more

Facilitators for on-farm projects

Interested in the Defra ADOPT programme? We have researchers and project managers who are experienced with Innovate UK processes and are registered as facilitators. We can engage as a facilitator, as a contracted supplier or as a full project partner.

Product testing on-farm

Do you have a product or technology you are taking to market and need to test with farmers? We offer a bespoke service tailored to your needs, creating new networks of farm testers or working with your existing contacts. With links to farm research networks & triallists around the world we can offer a global solution.

Trial management & Data analysis

Are you already running on-farm trials but would like to maximise the learnings from them, and your confidence in the results? We can bring your trials together in an easy to use platform, accessing free satellite imagery, statistically analyse yield map data and run meta-analyses across trials series. .

Improving on-farm performance

Do you represent a group of farmers striving for a common interest? We work with supply chains, levy bodies, farm clusters, water companies, agronomy groups and university networks to support sharing of ideas and co-ordinate experiments, measurements and results.

What works on your farm?

Are you a farmer who wants to be part of a network that is continually striving to learn what works on your farm? Join our ARC Innovators network to get involved in exciting projects and opportunities, and be first to access results and learnings.

Industry intelligence

Do you want to better understand the agronome, what's driving variation in performance and where there might be opportunities? We connect datasets from soil, weather, satellites and farm management to quantify what works where.

Understanding what works on-farm

Good research starts with farmers asking important questions

Access ADOPT funding

Commercial Projects

Join the Community