Our Farm

The Institute farm in the Compton area comprises 780 hectares of predominantly chalk downland descending into two alluvial/gravel valleys comprising the upper reaches of the Pang Valley, within the North Wessex Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Our fields are cropped with wheat, oil seed rape, spring barley, forage maize, lucerne and grass - a proportion of which goes to feed the farms herd of 450 Holstein Friesian dairy cows and flock of Dorset sheep.

 

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The farm provides a number of key resources for the Institute, including:

  • Cattle and sheep of known high health status for research, including some animals carrying specific genotypes e.g. a herd of Holstein Freisan cattle of known Major Histocompatibility (MHC) type.
  • Facilities for farm-scale trials.
  • A bedding, forage and a manure disposal resource for the Animal Services section.
  • A revenue stream through its commercial activities e.g. milk production, grain and lamb sales.