The story of wheat from farm to bird

Did you know that the wheat we use in your bird food has been nearly 2 years in the making? 

Plant breeders produce wheat seed annually for seed merchants, such as Bartholomews, to put onto selected farms.  This is called C1 seed and is grown in the first year to provide sufficient seed of guaranteed germination, for use in the 2nd year.   The crop is harvested and brought into our seed plant, cleaned, and treated and then sold as C2 seed, for farmers to grow and sell as milling wheat, bread making wheat or as feed wheat.  Different wheat varieties are used for these. 

We buy from local farmers, collect in bulk from farm with our own vehicles, and bring into our birdseed plant, where it is cleaned and stored and then used within your bird food. 

A high proportion of our wheat is used to feed poultry. For example, our Colonels Mixed Poultry corn, it is also used in small quantities in our standard Wild Bird Mixtures such as Colonels Xtra and Winterfood.  As wheat is one of the cheapest commodities available, it is often used in budget mixtures to bulk them out.