This is Viikki Research Farm. It used to be called Latokartano Farm. It is about 470 years old.
King Gustav Vasa of Sweden established the city of Helsinki in 1550. He established it on the banks of the Vantaa river near the sea.
As soon as Helsinki had been established, a royal manor was built there on an island in the Vantaa river. The island is now part of Helsinki’s Vanhakaupunki (Old Town). The king’s soldiers and workers received food from Latokartano Farm.
Latokartano later served as an official government residence. Government employees were allowed to live there.
About a hundred years ago, Latokartano Farm became the University’s own farm, Viikki Research Farm. The farm is now the site of research on agriculture and food production.
The University’s farm was first used for teaching and experimentation. It was important to produce a great deal of quality food. Plants were grown and animals raised on the farm. During and after the 1930s not enough food was available for everyone.
Problems with farming and food production are different now from before. We have enough food. It is now important to focus on other things, such as the effects of food production on the environment.
Today, the environmental effects of agriculture are the key research topic at Viikki Research Farm.
Viikki Research Farm includes about 155 hectares of field and a cowshed with about 55 dairy cows, which means cows that produce milk. The farm used to be much bigger. At its largest, the farm covered over 250 hectares of field and hundreds of hectares of woods.