Country
United Kingdom
Agricultural Area
63 ha
About ERS
- Lead: Rothamsted Research - RRES
- Contact: Paul Harris
- Production System: Two grassland (beef cattle and sheep) farms, one arable (wheat, oats, beans) farm and one indoor cattle farm
Thematic Areas Covered
Crops Management
Forage Production
Grassland Management
Herd Management
Manure Storage and Spreading
Soil Health and Biodiversity
Water Management
Description
The North Wyke Farm Platform in southwest UK is a globally unique, intensively instrumented, farm-scale facility that enables research on productivity and ecosystem responses to diverse management practices for grassland and arable farming.
Established in 2010, research richly informed by its open datasets has helped develop sustainable land management practices that produce healthy food with minimal environmental footprint. The 63-ha site consists of three outdoor and one indoor farm where the outdoor farms periodically transition to alternative farm systems. Each system change is based on prevailing policy and scientific knowledge, with associated hypotheses.
Characteristics
All farms provide freely available systems-scale data on soils, crops, pasture, livestock, biodiversity, water/gaseous emissions, farm management and weather. The platform also acts as an open physical facility where experiments can inform on the over-arching 4-farm-scale experiment or provide a self-contained study.
The platform provides training in the biosciences and the digital sciences. It supports engagement with national and international networks and is recognised by the UN FAO as an exemplar research facility. It has a strongly collaborative culture, conducts knowledge exchange and public engagement activities, and connects with academia, industry and policy, alike.
