Demonstration farm
farm designed to research and demonstrate improvements in agricultural techniques, efficiency, and building layout
A demonstration farm, experimental farm or model farm, is a farm which is used primarily to research or demonstrate various agricultural techniques, with any economic gains being an added bonus. Demonstration farms are often owned and operated by educational institution or government ministries. It is also common to rent land from a local farmer. The leaser is allowed to perform their demonstrations, while the land owner can be paid for the land usage or may be given the resulting crops.
Many demonstration farms not only have crops, but may also have various types of livestock. Various techniques for feeding and bedding are tested on these farms. Demonstration farms run by universities are not only used for research, but are also used for teaching purposes. The Ontario Agricultural College operates a demonstration farm in which students take active participation in their classes.
There has also been an expanding number of demonstration farms which are used to test various forms of renewable energy, primarily wind turbines and solar panels.
Model farms became popular during the Industrial Age, providing education to urbanized populations and encouraging improved welfare standards for agricultural workers.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Demonstration farm” as farm designed to research and demonstrate improvements in agricultural techniques, efficiency, and building layout. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as farm designed to research and demonstrate improvements in agricultural techniques, efficiency, and building layout. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5844636. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Demonstration farm”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Demonstration farm primary sources, Demonstration farm archive and Demonstration research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Demonstration farm”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Demonstration farm” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.