Evan Delaney

Evan Delaney is an organic tillage farmer farming 81 hectares (200 ac) in Fethard, Co. Tipperary. Evan produces barley, wheat, oats and beans and produces his own organic animal ration out of it. Evan prioritises the biology of the soil using lots of foliar sprays, seaweed and sugarcane molasses which promote the living soil and consequently he has noticed he has much healthier crops. Evan became certified organic in 2016 and went into it because of a love of nature and an attempt to coax it back. Since, he has noticed the Yellowhammer make a return to the farm. He grows a 2m grassland margin around his fields with some wildflowers or sunflowers sown too. He loves growing field beans as they attract loads of bees and other pollinators to the land. He has always been in environmental schemes and is in ACRES now. He says he was growing margins with phacelia and vetch anyway, but that it’s great to be acknowledged for this ecosystem service now.

NOMINATOR: Farming for Nature Ambassador Pat Mulrooney
NOMINATION:
I wish to propose Evan Delaney, Red City, Fethard, Co. Tipperary as a candidate to be considered as an ambassador for farming for nature for the current round. I have been very impressed by his attention to detail and knowledge gained in the years he has been farming.

At this stage he operates a stockless tillage farm with consistent good results. Crops grown are wheat,barley, oats, peas and beans all for animal feed. Oats are also grown on contract for Flahavans. Soil fertility is maintained by a combination of the following; Red clover is grown as a break crop for up to two years acting as a green manure and fixing nitrogen in the soil for subsequent crops. A combination of green crops are used to contribute to fertility and to maintain high levels of organic matter.These green manures are mulched and incorporated into the soil prior to sowing the crop.

In recent years he has developed a very successful business supplying feed to farmers for livestock. In order to have enough grains to supply his growing customer base he rents additional land from other organic farmers, Evan purchases organic crops from other growers when available. He is one of a few organic growers in the country supplying locally grown crops. Almost all animal rations available to Irish organic farmers are imported with all the negative implications of extra transport, provenance and the issue of imports displacing the opportunities for Irish growers to have an outlet for their crops.

Facilities he has put in place to facilitate this development are as follows. He has upgraded existing farm sheds for the storage of grains, drying equipment, grain crushing and bagging and necessary handling equipment. During 2023 he added a purpose built shed to store additional grain.

Evan runs a small agriculture contracting business to supplement his grain growing and processing activities and the machinery required for both are to a large extent compatible.

In conclusion I think Evan is an excellent candidate to become an ambassador as he farms to a very high environmental standard making best use of some of our most productive Irish farmland and by doing so providing further positive environmental openings for other farmers. Evan is also a good communicator.