EXCURSIONS

During the excursion day, August 26, participants can select one of the following excursions where the city and bog are listed. There will be scientific content on all excursions and, of course, the best of Estonian nature!

 

Day trip 1 – Field crops

Estonian University of Life Sciences Experimental Station

Part of the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Rõhu Experimental Station 10 km from Tartu spans 60 hectares and serves as a hub for crop production research, soil science, and sustainable technologies. The station features a unique autonomous field robot for precision farming research and UAV-based monitoring and spraying for smart agriculture. In 2024, it hosted the World Ploughing Championships, and in 2025, a new facility opened to support entrepreneurs and researchers in bioresource valorization. Selected field experiments organized by different research groups with field, cover and perennial crops will be visited, as well as long-term crop rotation experiments. More information: https://pk.emu.ee/en

Production visit

We will visit cereal and seed production farm producing wheat, rapeseed, barley, peas, rye and oats on more than 2000 hectares. This farm is forward thinking experimenting with catch crops and green manure crops, using modern methods of plant protection, precision farming and fertilization helping to preserve nature and reduce production costs. 

Mustjärve bog

Mustjärve hiking trail is a 2.3 km walk in a bog pine forest near Lake Võrtsjärv. Walk around the 23 ha lake, enjoy serene views, and pick lingonberries and blueberries along the way in the swampy forest. The lake is shallow (max depth 1 m) and not suitable for swimming.

 

 

Day trip 2 – Horticultural crops and peat

Estonian University of Life Sciences Horticultural center