Hello and welcome to Southdown Farm the home for 12 years of Soar Mill Seeds the family-run bird food specialists.
Just a normal farm growing crops, grazing cattle and sheep and for 12 years growing and producing wild bird food for our business Soar Mill Seeds. Created in October 2000 and sold in January 2013 it was as a result of two things. The failing pig industry and our 360 outdoor pig herd becoming less profitable and my own compassion for bird watching and conservation. In fact all our family love living and working with wildlife.
Southdown Farm is not organic, we farm in a conventional manner but in harmony with our natural surroundings. Where possible we create habitat and food sources around the farm to allow as many plants and animals to breed and survive, a profitable commercial farm can be a haven for wildlife if managed correctly. Soar Mill Seeds allowed us to boost these aims and objectives. We use sprays on the farm but try to limit them for use as stale seed bed preparation only. No other herbicide and importantly insecticide is used unless we have a real problem.
We farm on the very tip of south Devon near Salcombe, our land ends in 400 foot high cliffs. We have 446 acres of land rented from the National Trust, comprising of 180 acres of extensively grazed grassland supporting sheep and cattle, 260 acres of arable land.
In 1997 we took on the whole farm, including the arable land, up until then we rented 50 odd acres for our outdoor pigs. From this moment we had the opportunity to manage and use this land in such a manner to increase its wildlife potential. We were already putting out feed stations around the farm, buying in large amounts of 'cleaning's' from local farmers. This helped boost the number of wintering birds but then of course they were lost during the summer as no suitable habitat was available.
In just three years this all changed with the Hare population increasing from 6 pairs to around 18, a small herd of Sika deer regularly calve each year and raise their young to maturity. The bird life has increased tremendously with the return of wintering Reed bunting, Cirl bunting (c45 breeding pairs), regionally important numbers of Skylark c2000 birds, flocks of 600 Linnet, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, House sparrow, Chaffinch and smaller flocks of Greenfinch. All sustained from the winter stubbles and our sympathetic farming practices.