Seed sales sow success for nature conservation

Seed sales sow success for nature conservation

Anna Guthrie

Vine House Farm birdfood in the South Lincolnshire Fens delivers £1m royalties for The Wildlife Trusts

One man’s passion for the natural world has led to his family supporting UK wildlife conservation to the tune of £1,000,000, through feeding birds on a spectacular scale.

Nicholas Watts’ passion for birds has shaped his method of wildlife-friendly farming. He grows more than 400 acres of seeds for birds and is the largest grower of sunflowers in the UK. Since 2007 his award-winning business, Vine House Farm, has produced 13,000 tonnes of bird seed, enough to fill 26 million garden feeders!

Through a partnership with The Wildlife Trusts, five per cent of bird food sales are donated to Vine House Farm customers’ local Wildlife Trust. Royalties will this month reach £1,000,000, supporting The Wildlife Trusts’ work to protect and restore areas for nature and inspire people to experience wildlife first-hand.

We are delighted to have reached this milestone, thanks to a wonderful partnership with Vine House Farm. We are grateful to everyone who feeds the birds in their garden, not only does it bring us joy but it makes a genuine difference to the success of the UK’s bird populations.
Stephanie Hilborne OBE
Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts
Vine House Farm

Nicholas Watts (founder) with Paul Wilkinson from the Wildlife Trust - ChrisTaylorPhotography.com

Fourth-generation farmer Nicholas has been working the land at Vine House Farm in Deeping St Nicholas, Lincolnshire, since he was a boy. His bird-watching hobby became part of his work in 1992, leading to an MBE - for his wildlife conservation work and wildlife-friendly farm management - and many other awards. Over the last 20 years, thanks to wildlife-friendly measures put in place at the farm, barn owl and whitethroat numbers have quadrupled and tree sparrow and lapwing numbers increased ten-fold.

Vine House Farm, which has grown 87 million sunflowers since 2000, is now one of the UK’s most successful wild bird-food businesses. In addition to sunflowers, Vine House Farm grows 240 acres of red millet, white millet, naked oats, oil seed rape and canary seed, all of which are delivered directly to customers across UK from the family-run farm. Nicholas’ daughter Lucy and son-in-law Robert now manage the business and 2,500 acre farm, which also grows potatoes and sugar beet.

Farming this way is a way of life for us and it brings about great pleasure to see wildlife thriving. I have always enjoyed feeding birds and now I am feeding more than I could ever have imagined with the help of our customers!
Nicholas Watts MBE
Founder of Vine House Farm

More about Vine House Farm

  • Vine House farm is a bird food company with a difference: much of the bird seed it supplies is grown on its conservation award-winning farm.
  • The specific growth requirements of sunflowers mean Lincolnshire is the furthest north sunflowers are able to be commercially grown.
  • In 2011, Nicholas Watts MBE won the top prize in the ‘Oscars’ of conservation awards for the second time, a first in the Silver Lapwing Awards history. He was presented with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group’s (FWAG’s) Silver Lapwing Trophy and a cheque for £1,000 at a ceremony held at the House of Commons.
  • Lincolnshire-based Vine House Farm offers a wide range of garden bird food, feeders and accessories. 
  • Nicholas Watts MBE is an active member of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

To find out more about its conservation work and how to order, visit www.vinehousefarm.co.uk, or check out our dedicated Vine House Farm web page below.

Vine House Farm

Vine House Farm

© Nicholas Watts