Congratulations to Nicholas Watts of Vine House Farm who has been unveiled as the 2013 winner of The Nature of Farming Award.
For the sixth year running, you voted in your thousands to crown the UK's most wildlife-friendly farmer and Nicholas is truly deserving of the title, and he firmly believes that farming and wildlife go hand in hand. He proves this with his extremely successful and profitable farm business.
Nicholas told us: “In 1992, after recording the breeding birds on my farm for 10 years, I realised there had been a big drop in numbers. This worried me so I set about trying to reverse that decline and I have succeeded with several species. Since the mid 1990s the national numbers of some farmland birds, such as the yellow wagtail, have continued to decline. I’m delighted to have shown that it’s possible to buck this trend, but I feel that farmers need to be given as much support as possible to put wildlife back on the land. We all want good quality food to eat, but most also want colour and birdsong in our farmed countryside too. Now, more than ever, we need the Government to support farmers like me and the many others who are doing good things for wildlife but who can’t continue without the financial support to do it.” You can read more about the work that Nicholas has done on his farm here.
Congratulations to all the other finalists and Highly Commended farmers from this year's competition too - keep up the good work!
Also congratulations to Mr Penri Desscan from Cardiff, who was the lucky winner of the prize draw
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