Shane will be participating in an online Q&A next week
Tuesday 12th November at 8pm
The Ask the Farmer Series is a chance to hear what Farming for Nature Ambassadors are doing for nature on their land.
Shane & Kate run a 200-cow Spring-calving dairy herd near Portlaw, Co. Waterford. They run a profitable system but in recent years are equally focussing on how to improve the farm for the environment.
20% of their grassland is a multi-species sward with the remainder having a clover/grass mix. Nitrogen output has dropped from 250kg/ha to 150kg/ha. They’ve stopped spraying under hedgerows and along boundaries to allow space for nature and have also revised their hedgerow management aiming for that good A-shape. They are of the opinion that ‘If you need every inch of land under production you must be doing something wrong’.
They have joined ACRES but not just for the sake of it; Shane and Kate are focussed on improving the biodiversity on the farm after becoming more aware of the issues. They are adamant that any farm business must find the balance between the three pillars of sustainability; financial, environmental and social ‘if you’re not leaving room for nature or the farm isn’t economically viable, the farm won’t survive, if it’s not enjoyable the next generation won’t be interested’. They’ve incorporated 3m field margins, riparian buffer zones and installed owl boxes under ACRES and they are looking for more through the Native Woodland Scheme. Through the Farming for Nature Horse’s Mouth program they were advised by Ambassador Gearóid Maher and consequently had a wildlife pond dug in 2023.
Sign up to the Q&A here
