Nicholas is a top chap and his farm is full of farm wildlife, a real pleasure to visit. Nicholas constantly comes up with new ways of creating habitat, not frightened to try something new but equally not afraid to admit when things need to change. I always enjoy our conversations about farm wildlife, particularly corn bunting, a species both Nicholas and I have a passion for. Nicholas has a profitable farm business that gives nature a home, colleagues and I constantly learn from his years of experience, so his impact is far beyond his own farm gate.
I'll let Nicholas tell you what farming in a wildlife freindly way means to him and his farm business...........
I live on the farm where I was born, and farming and wildlife is my life. I started recording the breeding birds on my farm in 1982 when I was farming 500 acres but it was a decade later when I realised wildlife was in serious decline and knew I had to do something about it. Since 1992 I have been surveying over 4000 acres for breeding birds so I have seen what birds like and what they don’t like and all my conservation work has been based on these sightings. Twenty years on my farm is now buzzing with insects and birds. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to see a flock of Tree Sparrows wheeling round, Corn Buntings back on territory or a field full of breeding Lapwings.
So how is wildlife an important part of our successful farm business? Well firstly, it demonstrates to both the large brands we sell to and local consumers that we operate ethically and responsibly, with wildlife and the wider environment always in mind. Secondly, it acts as a great motivator to me, my family, and all of the wider team who help to run our farm, to do things right and do things well. It has also demonstrated to local farmers that farming and wildlife can work together when given a chance.
To me, farming and wildlife go hand in hand; all the decisions I make on my farm have wildlife in mind. There is no doubt that running a profitable business is a prime motivator, but to me the wildlife that I see and hear on a daily basis now gives me just as much pleasure. So my small fenland fields (average size 27 acres) might not be quite as efficient as the larger fields around us, but I know through my studies that by keeping my fields small and by not block cropping helps wildlife.
My farm is now 2000 acres in the Lincolnshire Fens, where natural habitat is very limited, and on it we grow a wide range of crops including wheat, potatoes, oilseed rape, sugar beet, millet and canary seed. 300 acres of our farm is farmed organically, this decision was taken primarily with wildlife in mind as I couldn’t think of another way that I could get paid for having weeds in my crops, which are essential in helping with insect numbers.
I have planted 4km of hedges, have dug 12 ponds (amounting to about 15 acres of water), I have wide grass margins for the barn owls to hunt over, 15 acres of wildflower meadows for insects and 35 acres of cultivated margins for weeds to grow in- yes weeds!! Built four brick towers for Barn Owls, persuaded the drainage board to mow their ditches less often and given more than 150 talks country wide on Farming and Wildlife.
I have shown over the past twenty years that Farming for Wildlife does pay.
One of the many corn buntings to be found on Vine House farm (S. Tonkin RSPB)
Nicholas Watts is a finalist in this years Nature of Farming Award you can vote for him here and find even more about Vine House Farm here