ISPA Account
Once Upon a Time, the History of PA and OFE
Dr. David Charles, retired from Nottingham University in the UK is passionate with the history of agriculture. Here are two excerpts of what you can find in Dr. Charles short paper on the ISPA website.
- Early Precision Agriculture: In the 6th century A.D. Pope Gregory and Archbishop Augustine organised England on a system of parishes. Within these parishes there were usually three large communal fields divided into strips. Village families held randomised replicated strips in the three fields with the intention of giving them all fair shares of good and bad land.
- Early On-Farm Experimentations: Thomas Coke of Holkham Hall, Norfolk (1754–1842) held what became known as the Holkham Sheep Shearings, at which he exchanged information with his tenants as they explored and experimented with the new crop rotations which had been evolving since the work of Townshend (1674–1738).