RSK ADAS LIMITED

Their core work

ADAS is one of the UK's largest independent agricultural and environmental consultancies, providing science-based advisory services to farmers, food businesses, and government agencies. Within H2020, they contribute applied agronomic expertise — running farm trials, collecting field data, and translating research findings into practical farming guidance. Their work spans crop systems, grassland management, integrated pest management, and variety testing, consistently bridging the gap between laboratory science and on-farm practice across Europe.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2015–2018, ADAS focused on specific crop systems — legume-based farming, ecological intensification, and organic farming market transitions (LEGVALUE, Hennovation). From 2019 onward, their work shifted toward broader sustainability frameworks: permanent grassland ecosystem services, data-driven variety testing with machine learning, and participatory multi-actor farm networks (SUPER-G, InnoVar, IPMWORKS). This evolution shows a move from single-crop research toward systems-level agricultural advisory supported by digital tools and farmer engagement.

ADAS is moving toward data-intensive, farmer-participatory approaches to sustainable agriculture — expect future work to combine digital decision tools with on-farm demonstration networks.

How they like to work

ADAS operates exclusively as a consortium partner or third party — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is consistent with their role as an applied consultancy contributing field expertise rather than leading research agendas. With 174 unique partners across 29 countries, they are a highly connected node in European agricultural research, comfortable working in large multi-national consortia. Their breadth of partnerships suggests they are valued as a reliable delivery partner who brings UK farming context and practical trial infrastructure to diverse research teams.

ADAS has collaborated with 174 unique partners across 29 countries, making them one of the more broadly connected agricultural consultancies in H2020. Their network spans most of the EU, with particularly strong ties to Western European agricultural research institutions and farm advisory networks.

What sets them apart

ADAS stands out as a large-scale private agricultural consultancy with deep roots in UK farming — they are not a university lab or a small startup, but an established advisory firm with the infrastructure to run farm trials and collect field data at scale. This makes them uniquely valuable for projects that need to demonstrate real-world impact on working farms. For consortium builders, ADAS brings the practical credibility and farmer networks that pure research institutions often lack, plus strong capability in translating scientific outputs into actionable farm guidance.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SUPER-G
  By far their largest H2020 engagement (€1.36M), focused on permanent grassland sustainability with a multi-actor, transdisciplinary approach — signals their core strategic priority.
• InnoVar
  Combines traditional variety testing with machine learning and genomics, representing ADAS's push into digital agronomy and data-driven crop improvement.
• IPMWORKS
  An EU-wide farm demonstration network for integrated pest management — reflects ADAS's strength in connecting research to farmer practice at continental scale.