Farmer-Driven Innovation brings farmers’ own ideas for the future of agriculture into play
Project period: 2025 – 2027
Funding: Novo Nordisk Foundation
Farmer-Driven Innovation is a project that puts the ideas and experiences of Danish farmers at the centre of developing tomorrow’s sustainable agriculture. The project gathers farmers from across the country in regional innovation networks, where they – in collaboration with advisers and experts – develop, test, and share new solutions for more environmentally friendly crop production.
From spring 2026, fields throughout Denmark will become living laboratories, where new methods and technologies are trialled in practice. The aim is to translate the practical knowledge of farmers into documented results that can strengthen the competitiveness of agriculture while contributing to the green transition.
The project is supported by a grant of 23 million DKK from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and will run from 2025 to 2027. Farmer-Driven Innovation is a collaboration between regional advisory companies nationwide, Danish Technological Institute, and Agrovi, who are the project initiators.
Farmers meet in networks, develop and share ideas, and trial sustainable cultivation methods at several levels – from simple field trials to advanced tests.
Experiences and results are shared on an ongoing basis through workshops, field walks, and network meetings, so more people can benefit from the new approaches. Some solutions can be implemented immediately, while others will be further developed through existing innovation systems.
A platform for knowledge-sharing and innovation
The purpose of Farmer-Driven Innovation is to create a platform where practical ideas from farmers can quickly be trialled, documented, and benefitting the entire agricultural sector – to the advantage of the environment, nature, and economy.
“We must ensure that a good idea from an individual farmer can be tested and described and – if it works – can rapidly benefit the entire sector. It’s about converting practical experience into documented, data-supported results, so we can both strengthen the competitiveness of agriculture and contribute to the green transition. The unique aspect of the project is that we combine the practical experience of farmers with systematic documentation and knowledge-sharing, so together we create a basis and solutions for the agriculture of the future,” says Juan Farré, CEO at Danish Technological Institute.
Agrovi’s CEO, Niels Peter Ravnsborg, adds:
“It is ground-breaking that it is now the farmers who are at the centre of positive development. Furthermore, that this happens through collaboration across actors in agriculture. The project is an opportunity to show that there is plenty of foresight, innovation and willingness to change in agriculture. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to support innovation within the industry. Today, many good ideas for improving agriculture get no further than a few neighbours, but now they can be collected, tested, and scaled up quickly.”
The grant is part of the Novo Nordisk Foundation's support for the green transition within the framework of the Green Tripartite Agreement.
“We need to support the development of agriculture at every stage. The Green Tripartite Agreement is not just about reducing agricultural land but also about supporting agricultural production to move in a more sustainable direction – for the environment, nature, and profitability. Danish agriculture has a good starting point and is good at sharing new knowledge. But we have seen good examples from other countries, where they have, so to speak, turned the value chain upside down and given farmers more opportunities to pursue their own ideas and spread innovative solutions. We need more of this at home, and this project can contribute to that,” says Claus Felby, Vice President for Agri-Food at the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Find out more at landmandsdrevet.dk
Project partners
- Danish Technological Institute
- Agrovi – Knowledge Centre for Agriculture