Farmers prioritise crop resilience in precision breeding poll
Farmers have placed rooting ability at the top of their priority list for future crop breeding efforts, according to results from a poll by the British On-Farm Innovation Network (BOFIN). It comes as BOFIN Farmers prepare to trial a wheat with a novel rooting trait.
The ‘Wellies of Wisdom’ poll, held at five major agricultural events this summer – including Cereals and Groundswell – asked visitors: “If precision breeding could introduce any of the following traits to crops, which would be most important to you?” Respondents cast their votes by placing a token in a wellington boot labelled with their preferred trait.
Among farmers, rooting ability came out on top, followed closely by pest and disease tolerance/resistance and nutrient use efficiency. Together, these results reveal a clear farmer focus on crop resilience, soil health and reducing inputs.
“The Wellies of Wisdom were a fun, engaging way to get people talking about precision breeding and its potential benefits,” said BOFIN managing director Tom Allen-Stevens. “But these results also send a strong message – farmers are looking for practical traits that deliver real benefits above and below ground, improving both their resilience and their bottom line.”
Other groups shared slightly different priorities. Scientists and researchers favoured pest and disease resistance, human nutritional needs, and nutrient use efficiency, reflecting a balance between agronomic performance and food quality. Agri-industry professionals aligned with farmers on nutrient use efficiency and pest resistance, but also flagged food safety as a key concern. Meanwhile, those describing themselves as ‘just curious’ placed more emphasis on drought and salinity tolerance and human nutrition, highlighting broader environmental and consumer interests.
The poll is part of BOFIN’s PROBITY project, which is bringing precision-bred crops onto commercial farms for the first time in Europe. BOFIN is now actively recruiting PROBITY Pioneers – farmers willing to join paid on-farm trials in 2025–26.
“In the first year of PROBITY trials, we’ll be growing varieties developed through a technique called TILLING to assess traits also being introduced by gene editing,” Tom explained. “Two of these varieties show enhanced gravitropism which means they develop deeper roots that could make them more drought resilient.
“But we don’t know yet whether they are – these lines haven’t been tested in the field, and scientists need to know how this trait will perform before they can develop it further. We’re particularly keen to work with growers in drought-prone areas to really put these deeper-rooting varieties to the test.”
Interested in joining the PROBITY project to help test new traits? Visit www.bofin.org.uk/LeadtheField to find out more.