Inishowen farmers’ eco drive to feature on RTÉ’s Nationwide this week

The Inishowen Uplands European Innovation Partnership (EIP) project is set to feature on RTE 1 this Friday, November 20 at 7pm.

The programme will show the innovative measures carried out on James Breslin’s demonstration farm for the project at Redcastle in Inishowen, Co. Donegal . The project is currently in the implementation phase with the 25 participant farmers actually delivering innovative actions on their farms. The measures in the project are:

Diverse swards

Farmers are reseeding their land to establish these swards (expanses of grassland) which contain grasses, clovers and herbs. The clovers are the drivers of the sward as they fix nitrogen from the air which in turn feeds the grasses and herbs and gives a very productive sward.

These swards need little or no nitrogen fertilisers, which gives the farmer a low cost production system and protects the environment and water quality by reducing artificial fertiliser use.

This deep rooting sward also improves drainage and soil structure.

Agro forestry

The agro forestry measure involves planting trees on the farm to increase the resilience of the farm. The trees can provide shelter, prevent the spread of disease between livestock, slow down the flow of water, capture nutrients before they enter watercourses, dry up wet areas and in the long term provide a supply of timber. Central to the project is the fact that all areas planted in trees will remain eligible for all farm payments. There are huge benefits for biodiversity, carbon sequestration and water quality. The right trees in the right place can also play a huge role in flood mitigation.

Red clover

This is a very productive crop which produces a large volume of high protein winter feed for cattle which will eliminate the need for purchasing expensive concentrates. The red clovers fix nitrogen which feed the grasses sown along with them. Similar to diverse swards, artificial nitrogen fertiliser use is drastically reduced giving a low input low cost system.

Ponds

All participants in the project have established at least one pond on their farm. The benefits of ponds for biodiversity are well established. They also have an important role to play in water quality and flood mitigation. From a farming perspective, the ponds offer a potential water supply and maybe even potential for micro hydro electric generation.

Upland cattle

Participants are currently organising to reintroduce cattle on to the uplands. Sheep farming on the uplands is currently giving poor returns and the number of sheep on the hills is decreasing. This in turn is causing under grazing and increasing fire loads on the hills.

The quality of the uplands for ground nesting birds and biodiversity is also decreasing. It has been proven in the uplands of Scotland that mixed grazing of cattle at low stocking rates with sheep has huge benefits for the uplands. Cattle are non selective grazers and will eat material which sheep will not. Sheep will then eat the fresh regrowth after the cattle. The cattle are being introduced in a very managed way with temporary fencing installed where necessary to ensure that any sensitive areas are not damaged.

Commenting on the scheme, project manager Henry O’Donnell stated: “It’s great to see farmers engaging with us to implement these measures. Farmers are tired of schemes telling them what they can’t do where this project is about encouraging farmers to do things which will improve their income from farming.”

Tune in to Nationwide on Friday, November 20 at 7pm to see the project in action.