Teaming up with nature-tech innovator Chirrup.ai, the independent cheese producer will deploy bioacoustic devices across 10 farms in a three-year pilot initiative coined, ‘Birdsong for Biodiversity’.
The pilot farms are responsible for 25% of the milk that goes into cheesemaking at Wyke’s Bruton site.
Chirrup.ai’s maintenance-free monitors and web app transform real-time birdsong into actionable biodiversity data, aimed at making it simpler for farmers and land managers to accurately track bird species, assess ecosystem health, and support regenerative agriculture and sustainability reporting.
Bird populations are a sensitive indicator of ecosystem health, with the Chirrup.ai platform able to generate insights into soil quality, water health and overall biodiversity.
This approach enables users to benchmark and track progress year-on-year, aligning with ESG goals and underpinning credible nature-positive outcomes.
“This project gives us the ability to baseline the health of nature on our farms in a scientific and consistent way using the perfect blend of technology in nature – and then work to improve it,” said Rich Clothier, managing director at Wyke Farms.
“Birds are fantastic early-warning indicators for the environment, and with Chirrup.ai’s technology we can see how our land stewardship is making a real difference year after year.”
Wyke Farms is the first dairy processor to use Chirrup’s service under the UK Dairy Roadmap, which sets a target of 50% of farms monitoring biodiversity by 2030.
The first devices will be deployed on the Southwest pilot farms next week, with annual reporting on metrics such as species richness and bio-indicator trends.
These insights directly support Wyke Farms’ wider sustainability strategy, complementing its ‘Green by Nature’ programme and further reinforcing the business’s goal to leave the environment in better condition for future generations.
“Our producers are already delivering some of the lowest carbon footprint milk in the world. By adding year-round biodiversity monitoring to our toolkit, we can showcase the real environmental value our farms provide – not only in climate terms, but in supporting wildlife and thriving ecosystems,” added Andrew Gaskell, milk procurement director at Wyke Farms.
