From an original colour slide.
Joseph Nickerson (1914–1990) Joseph Nickerson, later Sir Joseph Nickerson, was one of Britain’s most influential farmers, plant breeders and agricultural entrepreneurs of the twentieth century.
He was born in April 1914 at Thoresway, Lincolnshire, and was brought up largely in Grimsby, where his family lived and maintained business premises at 18 Queen’s Parade. The early death of his father placed great responsibility on his shoulders, and by the age of twenty-five he had acquired Home Farm, Rothwell, near Caistor, where he began transforming the poor chalk soils of the Lincolnshire Wolds into one of Britain’s most successful farming enterprises.
During the Second World War he served as Commander of the Caistor Home Guard.
After the war he turned increasingly to agricultural innovation, recognising that British cereal varieties lagged behind those on the Continent. He founded the Nickerson Seed Company, which introduced more than eighty cereal varieties to British agriculture. The company pioneered the introduction of winter barley to the United Kingdom, and Nickerson varieties eventually occupied over 90% of the national winter barley acreage. He was also an early supporter of Plant Breeders’ Rights, helping to establish the principle that breeders should be able to protect and benefit from new crop varieties.
In 1960 he founded Cherry Valley Farms, which became the world’s leading supplier of duck breeding stock, exporting to more than eighty countries. His interests extended into livestock genetics through the Cotswold Pig Development Company, known to everyone simply as “Cotswold Pigs”, where he applied the same scientific breeding principles to pig production.
Nickerson businesses won several Queen’s Awards, including the Queen’s Award to Industry for Technical Development in 1979. In recognition of his services to agriculture, Joseph Nickerson was knighted in 1983, becoming Sir Joseph Nickerson. He was equally renowned as a sportsman and countryman. Rothwell became famous for its wild grey partridge shooting, and in 1952 Joseph Nickerson and five companions achieved a world record bag of 2,119 wild grey partridges in a single day, a record that still stands.
Through his achievements in agriculture and sport he became acquainted with royalty, politicians and business leaders from Britain and abroad. Rothwell was visited by HRH The Prince of Wales, later King Charles III, as well as Viscount Whitelaw and Lord Forte. Nickerson himself spent much time in Spain, where he leased the celebrated Nombela wild partridge shoot and entertained distinguished guests including the King of Spain. He was also known to have connections with European royal circles, including the Netherlands.
Despite these friendships and honours, Joseph Nickerson remained at heart a practical Lincolnshire farmer, happiest discussing crops, livestock, shooting and the countryside he loved.
Sir Joseph Nickerson died in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1990, aged seventy-five. He is remembered as a pioneer whose innovations transformed British agriculture and whose influence on cereal breeding, livestock genetics and rural life continues to this day.
A very interesting read: 'Roots in the Soil: An Adventure in Agriculture' (1987) is actually a biography detailing the life and work of the prominent British agriculturist Sir Joseph Nickerson, written by the well-known agricultural journalist and author Ralph Whitlock.
