Future Agriculture Resilience Mapping FARM

Britain’s 209,000 farms must ditch fossil fuels to meet the country’s 2030 clean-power and 2050 net-zero targets, but no one has mapped what that transition will actually demand from the electricity network. The Future Agriculture Resilience Mapping (FARM) project fills that gap. Currently, energy planners lack a clear picture of how rural power needs will shift as farms electrify machinery, heating, and processing. Without that map, distribution network operators (DNOs) cannot plan upgrades, farmers cannot invest confidently, and policymakers cannot design effective incentives. The project will model future energy requirements across the agricultural sector, identify transition pathways, and specify what the grid must deliver. If successful, FARM will produce concrete commercial, planning, and policy actions. DNOs will know where to reinforce cables and substations. Farmers will see which technologies make economic sense. Policymakers will have evidence to target support. The result is a quieter, less visible change—the electricity grid that powers rural Britain adapts before it breaks, keeping food production running while the country decarbonises.