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This chapter reviews contributions made to agricultural and environmental science and practice from research on temperate grassland carried out from 1982 to present at Rothamsted Research's North Wyke Research Station, Devon, UK. It describes the evolution of the research program and demonstrates the importance of sustained, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research. North Wyke has maintained a clear research focus, alongside an ability to adapt to changing grassland and environmental research needs and funding sources, and despite having changed affiliations on several occasions. The substantial contribution to agricultural and environmental science arising from the research station has influenced and continues to influence farm practice, research, and policy nationally and internationally. Some key topics have included nutrient cycling, farm waste management, gaseous emissions, biodiversity, grazing management, animal production (meat and milk), and forage quality. Currently, North Wyke Research Station is leading the way on taking increasingly holistic approaches to researching more efficient, sustainable approaches to grazing-livestock agricultural production. This involves the use of world-leading, facilities such as the North Wyke Farm Platform, comprising three farmlets, designed to test the productivity and environmental sustainability of contrasting temperate grassland beef and sheep systems. Future perspectives highlight key challenges facing the agricultural industry including climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the growing world population. Opportunities exist to tackle these challenges through technological advances, but also through increased integration of agricultural, environmental, economic and social research. North Wyke Research Station provides an example of a research facility where such challenges can be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To successfully curb microbial contamination of surface waters we need to understand, and holistically evaluate, the range of mitigation strategies that have been designed to protect watercourses from nonpoint agricultural sources, so as to use them to best effect. A cost-effective and pragmatic approach is to improve knowledge of farm management operations capable of (1) reducing potential pathogen numbers in livestock manures and (2) reducing subsequent transfer (through the environment) of fecal microorganisms derived from livestock manures that are recycled to land. This will prove important for supporting farmer decision making, devising policy, and implementing mitigation practices to limit fecal microorganism delivery from land to water. In this chapter, we consider a diverse suite of manure, animal, and land management options that range from simple manure-composting techniques and the use of slurry additives, through to land management engineering approaches and the design of constructed wetlands to protect watercourses from microbial contamination. The choice as to which strategy to use, if any, is ultimately made by the farmer and is likely to be influenced by a complex range of factors which may include, for example, tradition, convenience, and farm economics. We conclude that the inherent complexity associated with heterogeneous landscapes confounds the likelihood that a single management strategy will provide complete protection of receiving waters from microbial contamination. Instead, the coupling of different strategies alongside improved education and considerable vigilance by farmers and landowners is needed for a more sustainable approach to limiting diffuse microbial (and, crucially, other contaminant) pollution from agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]