The KIS Living Lab is located at the Lipica Stud Farm, which lies in the southwestern part of Slovenia, near the Italian border. The Lipica Stud Farm is situated on the Karst plateau, which is characterised by a rocky base and shallow soils. This site was chosen as it is the largest agroforestry pastoral system in Slovenia.
Within the Living Lab, two innovations — precision farming and composting techniques — will be tested at two experimental sites. At the first trial site, trees were felled and the remaining biomass (consisting of shrubs, wood, stones and grasses) was roughly mulched. A local grass mixture was sown in spring 2025. At the second trial site, horses graze annually and the remaining vegetation is usually mulched.
However, due to the large size of the agroforestry pasture, mulching does not always get carried out in time, which results in the spread of common wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). Different cutting and mulching regimes will be implemented at both trial sites. The selected innovation techniques will be used to monitor forage, yield, botanical composition and soil parameters.