Tommy Reidy

Tommy is an organic beef and sheep farmer around Castlegregory, Co. Kerry. He keeps Dexter cattle; with 12-13 breeding cows, rearing the calves to finish, keeping around 40 cattle in total. He also keeps Scotch and Swaledale sheep, which mainly stay on their share of a commonage, but come down the mountain to help manage the weeds in the summertime. He acknowledges weed control is important in an organic system, but he doesn’t remove everything, he even leaves a couple of ragwort’s behind as ‘you’d always see at least one butterfly on them’.

Tommy takes a dynamic approach to farming, always experimenting. He has used the Bokashi method on his straw bedding, which is an anaerobic process ensuring no nutrients escape or pathogens form. There have been no issues with scour since using this method. He has seen too how, unless the holly bush is in the shed, the cattle get ringworm.

Tommy’s land is a mosaic of habitats stretching from the mountain to wetland to machair. He is conscious of the farm’s ecological footprint ‘Areas like this aren’t made for intensive agriculture’. To protect the machair, the cows feed there for 8 weeks from mid-December and graze right down as a part of a conservation grazing program. The farm is also in an NPWS Natterjack scheme with two toad ponds on the land. Tommy also encouraged other local farmers to get involved to help the endangered species. In ACRES too, he sowed a herbal ley, that he has let go to flower and has a thriving bird population.

NOMINATOR: Brigid O' Connor, Farming For Nature Ambassador
NOMINATION: Tommy is an Organic Beef farmer, with Dexter cattle. His farm is a great example of combining farming with nature. He is big into diversification and is always ready to explore new ways. He cares for the environment in the way he farms. I think he would be a very worthy Ambassador for Farming for Nature.