The organisers note: “Long-term experiments (LTEs) are valuable resources to assess the sustainability and resilience of agricultural practices and systems.

“This conference will focus on using LTEs to meet current and future challenges in agriculture,” they add. “We will explore how LTEs are advancing agronomy, agroecology, soil science, crop science and statistics to underpin farming systems that support nutritious diets while safeguarding our environment.

“A key focus will be collaboration between LTEs around the world, including how new metadata platforms (such as the Global Long Term Experiment Network) and new statistical approaches enable data to be combined to answer questions pertinent to the Sustainability Development Goals.”

The event will be available to delegates in person and online, and will include a mix of oral presentations, a poster session, workshops, a visit to Rothamsted’s LTEs and an optional conference dinner.

The most famous of Rothamsted’s LTEs is the Broadbalk winter wheat experiment and the conference will take the opportunity to celebrate its 180th anniversary. The world’s oldest field experiment, Broadbalk was established in 1843 to investigate the relative importance of different plant nutrients. The organisers add: “Today, it helps to answer questions about how farming practices, inputs, and weather patterns affect crop production.”

For more information:

• Visit the conference website here
• Read more about Rothamsted Research’s LTEs here