NIAB – STAR Open Day – Suffolk
June 24 @ 10:00 am - 2:30 pm
Event Details
Stanaway Farm, Otley, Suffolk IP6 9NA
Tuesday 24th June, 2025
10.00am-12.30pm
FREE AND OPEN TO ALL – BOOKING ESSENTIAL
The Sustainability Trial for Arable Rotations: celebrating 20 years of exploring cultivation and rotational systems for sustainable arable production
Come and join us in the field to learn more about this unique study for yourself and find out how cropping approaches can impact on soils and system resilience. Established in 2005, the STAR project is now supported by The Morley Agricultural Foundation, the site offers a unique opportunity to examining long-term rotational systems exploring the interaction between four different rotations and four different cultivation methods. Discover how this long-term experiment has adapted to address today’s challenges and hear about Niab’s wider research on diversified crop rotations and farming systems.
Hear from:
- Dr Nathan Morris – Explore the site’s history, key findings, and how tillage intensity and crop rotation impact on crop performance and soil health.
- Dr Georgina Barratt (BBRO) – An update from BBRO on crop production with a focus on soil management and crop establishment and understanding how optimising sugar beet management practices can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Dr Lydia Smith – An overview of The Centre For High Carbon Capture Cropping (CHCx3) project that is investigating how rotational use of herbal leys could increase soil organic carbon and improve system resilience. Diversifying rotations is increasingly seen as a way for farmers to increase resilience and enhance carbon capture from cropping systems.
- Ellie Roberts – Exploring opportunities for herbal leys in arable systems and understand how best these can be integrated and managed to maximise their value for use within the arable rotation for improving soil conditions and building soil fertility.
The STAR project is supported by The Morley Agricultural Foundation, The Felix Thornley Cobbold Trust and, historically, The Chadacre Agricultural Trust. The STAR project continues to contribute to wider collaborative research and is used as a platform for educational studies at both under-graduate and post-graduate level. This open event is provided as part of the Morley LoTS initiative; Niab working with The Morley Agricultural Foundation and Morley Farms to deliver a unique and impartial agronomy focused training, research and education capability in East Anglia.
