43: Making money from field to fork: farmers Liam and Justina Gavin, Roscommon
Liam and Justina Gavin own Drumanilra Organic Farm on the shores of Lough Key, Co. Roscommon. When they took over the farm in 2012, they had...
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Science & Medicine
Farming for Nature
A podcast by Irish farmers for Irish farmers - and anyone else who eats food! Hear how farmers balance making a living, with making space for nature. FFN is a not-for-profit initiative set u...
Episodes
20 of 43 episodes
42: On fungi and farming, with Thomas O'Connor
Thomas O’Connor farms 25 acres in the Gleann na nGealt valley near Camp, Co. Kerry, and sells his fresh organic produce in a farm shop, Mann...
41: Bruce Thompson, dairy farmer & dung beetle expert
Bruce Thompson is an intensive dairy farmer from Laois. He has a particular interest in reducing animal remedies through prevention, and is...
40: How to make Biochar, with Kildare farmer Kim McCall
Brigid speaks to Kim McCall about why and how he makes biochar. Kim and his wife Mireille own a 214-acre mixed livestock stock farm in Calve...
39: James Gilmartin, Mixed Stock Farmer, Leitrim: My land's natural carrying capacity
James Gilmartin is a 7th generation mixed farmer. He keeps a suckler herd and a small herd of Dexters, as well as a small flock of sheep. Pa...
38: Maurice Deasy, brewer, sheep & arable farmer: Why conservation agriculture is worth the risk
Maurice Deasy farms 120 acres in northwest Tipperary. He grows heritage Irish grains to preserve their genetic diversity, and uses them in h...
37: Aonghus Ó'Coistealbha, Connemara, Galway: How I make a living from 1 acre
Aonghus Ó'Coistealbha is a market gardener from Connemara Co. Galway, and he owns 'An Garraí Glas', a 1-acre farm where he grows chemical-fr...
36: Gearoid Maher, dairy farmer, Co. Limerick: Being economically viable while restoring nature on a dairy farm
Gearoid Maher farms 80 cows on 80 hectares in Co.Limerick. He tells Brigid how he manages to operate an economically successful farm while r...
35: Composting with Jim Cronin, mixed farmer, Co. Clare
Jim has a 16 acre hill farm in Clare where he intensively grows vegetables and fruit. He tells Brigid why homemade compost is the backbone t...
34: Rehabilitating an intensive farm with Colm Flynn, a Kildare tillage farmer
Colm talks to Brigid as part of Farming for Nature's "Ask the Farmer" series. Here he explains in detail how - and why - he changed from an...
33: James Ham, the tree farmer.
James Ham of Moyvore, Co. Westmeath is one of the last farmers in his county to use traditional technique of hedge laying. He farms 128 acre...
32: Rewilding with Eoghan Daltun, Beara, West Cork
Eoghan has a farm of 73 acres (including 40 acres of mountain commonage) overlooking the Atlantic near Eyeries on the Beara Peninsula, West...
31: Aoife Reilly - making a living on 7.5 acres
Aoife Reilly of Glasraí Farm owns a 7.5-acre farm in Hollymount, Mayo, with her husband, Joe. They employ seven people, and nature is intrin...
30: Why the best time for producing a Christmas turkey is actually in the summer
Cathal Mooney owns Heather Hill Farm in Donegal, where he produces pasture-raised turkey, pasture-raised chickens, lambs and eggs and wildfl...
29: What do bats need to make a farm their home?
Donna Mullen has a 43-acre farm in Meath, and she's found different ways to make her farm a magnet for seven bat species. She explains what...
28: And the winner of the Farming for Nature 2022 award is...
On 29th October, the annual Farming for Nature awards took place in Corofin, Co. Clare. Brigid Barry spoke to the winner, Sean Condon, who i...
27: So you have a bog on your farm...now what?
Tommy Earley has a 25 acre bog on his farm in Roscommon, and a few years ago he started the process of restoring it. What did he do? And how...
26: How Anthony Mooney attracts birds to his Kildare farm
With a 200 acre beef farm in Kildare, Anthony Mooney knows that he has a vital role in attracting bird species to his land. He explains how...
25: Nicholas Redmond, mixed farmer, Wexford
Nicholas Redmond has a 50-acre farm in Gerry, Wexford. He talks about his diverse beef & sheep farm, which includes species-rich meadows (fr...
24: How to attract bat life to a farm
Where you see bats, you'll find insects and bats on a farm are a good sign that nature is being supported. Tommy Earley, a beef farmer from...