Farmers provide a sounding board for agricultural scientists on sustainable intensification

The Centre for Rural Policy Research has convened a special farmers' group to help inform the scientific basis of sustainable intensification.

The group met to explore the work of the North Wyke Farm Platform, a national research facility examining the productivity and sustainability of grassland science and farming systems. The Platform was officially launched in summer 2012, and is funded by the ‘Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’ (BBSRC).

The group has been set by Dr Robert Fish as a  part of an ESRC Knowledge Exchange research project and is designed to act as a practical sounding board for the Platform's developing research programmes. Speaking at the inaugural meeting Dr Fish said "The North Wyke Farm Platform is a strategically important resource for the UK bioscience community, but there is a need for scientists to ground their ideas in practical farming realities. The group was set up to put scientists on the spot about their work and to keep abreast of trends in farming. We also hope to use the group to promote the work of the Farm Platform in the wider community".

For more information about the North Wyke Farm Platform visit http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/northwyke/FarmPlatform.php.