Wyke Farms has announced the launch of ‘Birdsong for Biodiversity’, a pilot project using AI-powered birdsong analysis to measure and improve biodiversity across their farms and supply farms.
In partnership with UK-based nature-tech company Chirrup.ai, this three-year initiative will deploy bioacoustic devices across Wyke Farms and on 10 pilot farms, with monitoring currently underway across the Southwest.
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 intuitive web app transform real-time birdsong into actionable biodiversity data, making it easy 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, essential barometer of ecosystem health: by using birds as bio-indicators, Chirrup.ai’s platform generates insights not only into wildlife, but also soil quality, water health, and overall biodiversity. This approach allows participating farms to benchmark and track progress year-on-year, aligning with environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) goals and underpinning 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. 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,” said Rich Clothier, 3rd generation cheese maker and Managing Director, Wyke Farms.
“Wyke Farms, represents an iconic group of West Country dairy farms, and is the first dairy processor to take advantage of Chirrup’s low-cost service under the UK Dairy Roadmap, which sets a target of 50% of farms monitoring biodiversity by 2030. We’re delighted to be working with pioneers like Rich and his team in 2025 and looking forward to other dairy processors scaling up their monitoring from next year,” added Conrad Young, Founder of Chirrup.ai.
The first devices will be deployed on the Southwest pilot farms next week, with annual reporting on metrics including the Chirrup Rating, species richness, and bio-indicator trends. These insights directly support Wyke Farms’ wider sustainability strategy, complementing the award-winning Green by Nature programme, and further reinforcing the company’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,” said Andrew Gaskell, Milk Procurement Director, Wyke Farms.
