A pioneering farm-led project aimed at transforming nitrogen management in UK arable farming has officially launched in Yorkshire, bringing cutting-edge real-time soil nutrient monitoring technology directly into farmers’ fields.
The SMART (Soil Monitoring for Adaptive Resource Targeting) project, funded through Innovate UK’s Farming Innovation Programme: ADOPT, officially commenced this month with a launch event held at Potter & Sons’ Grange Farm, Topcliffe, near Thirsk.
The project brings together three Yorkshire farming businesses – Potter & Sons (Rainton), Harrison Farms (Kilham), and R H Leonard Limited – alongside Paul-Tech, Future Food Solutions and the UK Agri-Tech Centre.
Over the next two years, the project will investigate how real-time soil moisture and nitrogen monitoring can help farmers make more informed fertiliser decisions, improve nitrogen use efficiency and support more sustainable land management practices.
At the heart of the initiative is Paul-Tech’s advanced in-field sensor technology, which provides continuous monitoring of nitrate levels and soil moisture directly within the crop rooting zone. The data generated will enable growers to better understand nutrient availability throughout the season and respond proactively to changing field conditions.
With fertiliser costs remaining a major challenge for arable businesses and increasing pressure to demonstrate environmental stewardship, the project aims to provide practical evidence of how precision monitoring technologies can deliver both economic and environmental benefits.
The trials will compare nutrient dynamics across different management approaches, including regenerative farming practices, helping to build a clearer picture of how soil health and nutrient availability interact under varying systems.
The project has been designed with farmers at its core, ensuring that findings are practical, scalable and relevant to commercial farming businesses. Future Food Solutions will facilitate farmer engagement and knowledge exchange throughout the programme, helping to translate research findings into actionable farm management decisions.
The UK Agri-Tech Centre will provide independent support and validation, ensuring robust evidence is generated and shared across the wider agricultural sector. Alongside this, the organisation is also part of delivering the ADOPT Support Hub, which is there to provide free and independent advice for people on ADOPT funding.
Saro Rengaraj, Trials & Validation Coordinator at UK Agri-Tech Centre said:
“This project is about giving farmers access to the information they need, when they need it. By understanding what is happening beneath the soil surface in real time, growers can make more informed nutrient management decisions to improve efficiency while maintaining productivity and supporting environmental goals.”
The SMART project reflects a growing shift towards data-driven agriculture, where real-time information enables farmers to move from reactive to proactive decision-making.
As the industry continues to navigate rising input costs, environmental requirements and the need for greater resilience, projects such as SMART will play a critical role in accelerating the adoption of practical agri-tech solutions on farm.
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