Farming for Nature

Gearoid is a dairy farmer from Limerick with 197 acres and 80 purebred Friesian cows.  He explains how and why he works with nature on his farm. "“The old rule of thumb was a cow to the acre – and that has been my ethos all along. If I can farm a cow to the acre without pressure then that’s what I'll do.”


Guest - Gearoid Maher, dairy farmer
Presenter - Brigid Barry, Farming for Nature


For more information visit https://www.farmingfornature.ie
Contact Brigid - [email protected]
Twitter @farmfornature

Sinéad farms 27 acres with her partner Mick. She explains why they decided to set up an organic microdairy, and how it benefits her business, the wild life and the land.


Guest - Sinead Moran, dairy farmer
Presenter - Brigid Barry, Farming for Nature


For more information visit https://www.farmingfornature.ie
Contact Brigid - [email protected]
Twitter @farmfornature

Hedgerows are the green veins of our countryside, but poor management can leave them all but lifeless.  Tipperary's Sean O'Farrell describes how farmers can ensure their hedgerows pulsate with wildlife, to the benefit of the farm - and the farmer.



Guest - Sean O'Farrell, mixed farmer
Presenter - Brigid Barry, Farming for Nature


For more information visit https://www.farmingfornature.ie
Contact Brigid - [email protected]
Twitter @farmfornature

What does it take to farm the uplands in a way that both provides an income and restores nature? Nia O'Malley farms 150 acres in the Slieve Aughty Mountains in Co. Galway, in the west of Ireland.  She explains how her beef farming works to support - not diminish - the wild species who make the uplands their home.

Mimi owns a 28 acre farm in Tipperary with her husband Owen.  They have a micro-dairy and sell raw organic cream, butter and buttermilk, and they also farm beef, chickens, pigs and ducks. (They've also just had their first baby, which you can hear gurgling behind the scenes here. Congrats Mimi & Owen!)

Roscommon beef farmer Tommy Earley has created 15 ponds on his farm in the West of Ireland.  They attract a spectacular array of life, and he explains why every farmer - and gardener! - in Ireland should create a watery space for nature. 

The founders of Farming for Nature, Brigid Barry and Brendan Dunford, explain what the initiative is, and how and why farmers across Ireland should get involved.  

Norman Dunne owns a 400-acre tillage farm near Maynooth. Five years ago he transformed the way he farms, in a way that has benefitted nature and his own mental health. 

They're known as "the farmer's friend" because they eat rodents such as wood mice, pygmy shrews and rats.  But barn owls are struggling in Ireland - there's been a 50% decline in the last 25 years. How can farmers help to restore barn owls to their land?  Wildlife expert & tillage farmer, Paul Moore, explains how he brought them back to his 140-acre farm in Midleton, Cork.  

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Thomas is an arable farmer with 84 acres in north Co. Cork.  He farms speciality crops such as grain-lupins, linseed, lentils, sunflowers, as well as the standard grain crops.