Farming for Nature Ambassador Series Farm Walk
June 1st – Improving Soil Fertility and Reducing the Parasite Burden Using Dung Beetles on an Intensive Dairy Farm
The Farming for Nature farm walks are an opportunity for our Ambassadors to showcase their contribution to nature and good farming practices on their land.
Bruce Thompson is an conventional dairy farmer in Co. Laois. He believes that Ireland is a fantastic place to produce good clean food and our reputation of “Clean, Green” is something to take pride in. However he also believes we can’t take that for granted. Bruce takes a lot of pride in the environment around his farm, getting excited to show off his buzzards, red squirrels and pine martins. Bruce has a particular interest in reducing animal remedies through prevention, with a focus on animal wormers. He has made dramatic reductions in his wormer usage by making use of his farm microscope for diagnosis and pioneering new grazing strategies. He is confident that by making some changes, the conventional system can be made more environmentally friendly and still have the same production output. He gives a lot of credit to his beloved dung beetles in achieving this. He is currently researching the relationship between dung beetles and wormers as a Nuffield Scholar.
Saturday, June 1 at 11am.
Tickets costs €10. Limited places available. Book your place here
These events have been jointly supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
