Better together
Since launching the Jordans Farm Partnership, Jordans Cereals has made growing delicious oats and caring for nature one in the same thing
Did you know that farmland accounts for 71% of UK land (which is essentially all the land in England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined), though 60% of farmland species are in decline – particularly birds such as curlews, tree sparrows and grey partridges?
Jordans believes the world is better when it’s bursting with nature. That’s why after 30 years of nature-friendly farming, it launched the Jordans Farm Partnership (JFP) in 2016, which sees each of Jordans’ 31 British oat farmers work with The Wildlife Trusts and LEAF to not only produce oats in a sustainable way, but to also dedicate at least 10% of their land to local wildlife.
Happily, it’s paying dividends for our flora and fauna. Since launching, the JFP has preserved an area the size of Oxford (that’s around 50km²) to benefit all creatures great and small, particularly those that are important in the local, wider landscape.
Back to nature
Ian Crabtree, who runs Shirley Hall Farm in Derbyshire, has seen wildlife on his land thrive since implementing his JFP plan. The brown hare population in particular has flourished as a result he. He explains:
“Fifteen or twenty years ago, we had one or two brown hares on the whole farm, but we now have a much bigger population – you can see groups of seven or eight at times in the spring.”
Nick Rowsell, a third-generation farmer from Hampshire, is working to recreate and restore the vital habitat on his farm after vast tracts were lost to intensive agricultural production. With the help of his Wildlife Trust advisor Alison, his land is now providing food, shelter and breeding sites for dormice and rare birds like woodlark and willow tit.
Likewise, Graham Birch, who grows Jordans oats on his Dorset farm, has also seen his birdlife grow year on year.
“We have a four-hectare nesting plot created specifically for corn buntings, and a three-hectare wildflower strip alongside that, which is alive all year round. It’s incredibly satisfying when you plan for and create a new habitat and it really works,” he says.
Indeed, all of Jordans farmers share that sentiment and it’s this reward that has made the
JFP such a great success.