Since 2015, The Wildlife Trusts have been working with Jordans cereals and LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) on the Jordans Farm Partnership. The partnership supports the farmers growing oats for Jordans cereals to farm in harmony with nature.

There are now 27 farmers involved, collectively farming over 14,600 hectares of countryside. Each farmer works with a local Wildlife Trust farm advisor to design a plan that produces food and brings benefits for wildlife. As a minimum, each farmer is committed to protecting and managing at least 10% of their farmed land for nature – though many go well beyond this. In fact, last year, the partnership revealed that around 30% of its farmed land was managed for nature. 

With farmland covering more than 70% of the UK’s land area, farming has a big role to play in nature’s recovery. It’s vital that we support farmers to farm in a way that brings nature back. It’s essential for farming, too. From healthy soils to insect pollination, nature plays an irreplaceable role in our food production. The need to restore nature is only growing more urgent as the climate crisis intensifies, bringing wetter winters; hotter, drier summers; and more frequent and intense weather extremes. 

The actions taken now by the farmers growing oats for Jordans will help wildlife adapt and cope with a changing climate. In Oxfordshire, Vines Farm has built a beetle bank with planted trees that not only provides new habitat for wildlife, but also creates a corridor across a large field, helping wildlife move more freely through the landscape. Similarly, Highfield Farm in Cambridgeshire recently planted more than 2,500 metres of hedging. 

Water is an increasingly valuable resource, both for farmers and wildlife. At Park Farm in Northamptonshire, a number of ponds support a considerable array of wildlife, from birds and bats to amphibians and dragonflies. Woodhall Farm in Hertfordshire has a river on the wider estate, where water voles were released as part of a reintroduction programme, in partnership with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. 

The farmers are also enjoying the results of their work for wildlife. At Aythorpe Farm in Essex, the farmer has seen a noticeable increase in small birds since creating new wildflower areas, including many more robins and yellowhammers. At Westwood Farm in Norfolk, the farmer even built a bird hide to get a better view of the farm’s wild residents. It had the added bonus of providing a nesting site for a family of swallows.

The work of the farmers growing oats for Jordans can extend beyond the boundaries of their farms, too. In Gloucestershire, the flower-rich areas at Calmsden Farms are now so good that they are being used as donor sites, providing wildflower seeds to restore other grassland habitats in the Cotswolds.  

After more than a decade of successful, wildlife-friendly farming, the Jordans Farm Partnership continues to showcase what can be accomplished when we farm in a sustainable way. Food production and nature are not mutually exclusive; they can go hand in hand. 

Find out more about the Jordans Farm Partnership