Members of the public, and in particular the farming community, are being asked to vote for one of six shortlisted farmers as their top choice for the 2018 National ‘Farming for Nature’ Award. The prestigious award is part of a wider independent initiative (www.farmingfornature.ie) which hopes to source, share and celebrate the stories of those farmers across Ireland who are doing great things for nature on their land and in their community. The purpose of the award is to shine a light on some of the many positive stories of how farmers interact with nature and perhaps inspire other farmers to follow suit by taking on simple measures to help nature on their farm.

From an initial long list of farmers, nominated by over 150 environmental professionals, a shortlist of six farmers has been compiled by a panel of judges. A five-minute film has been made about each shortlisted farmer and now the public are being asked to view the films and vote for their favourite one, with the winner to be announced at a special event on Saturday 27 October in Kinvara, Co Galway.

Following on from last week’s profiles of three of the finalists, this week we profile the remaining three:

Kim McCall

Kim and his wife Mireille manage a 214-acre mixed livestock farm in Calverstown, Kilcullen, Co Kildare. They keep a herd of 75 pedigree suckler cows and their followers, a flock of circa 80 sheep, as well as a few pigs in the summertime. The farm boasts a wide range of habitats such as wetlands, woodlands, wet and dry grasslands, old buildings and walls. For the McCalls, these features make a walk around the farm “a very pleasurable experience, even when things might not be going too well otherwise”.

Kim acknowledges that farming sustainably isn’t easy, particularly trying to remain profitable, but feels that if you manage the land within its capacity, it’s very doable – “farming for nature, not against it,” as he says. No artificial fertilisers are purchased, no pesticides are used and hedgerows and grasslands are rarely topped.

“Tidiness is a state of mind,” according to Kim. The preferred approach being a careful and balanced management which has resulted in an ideal situation for nature – birds, butterflies, bees – to thrive. The McCall’s work in this regard has been recognised by several national awards and several appearances on TV. The McCalls work closely with the National Biodiversity Data Centre, providing valuable data. Kim offers the following advice on farming for nature: “Stand back and look – observation is the basis for intelligence.”

Sean O’Farrell

Sean manages a 60-acre certified organic at Cloncannon Farm on the western slopes of the Devil’s Bit Mountains, near Moneygall in north Tipperary. Sean has been farming since he took over from his father 15 years ago and now keeps a 20-cow suckler herd, as well as pigs, poultry and goats.

A university graduate with a master’s degree in biodiversity and conservation, Sean is a heritage enthusiast, continuously planting native trees, putting in ponds for wildlife and pollinator strips for his beehives and birdlife. He does this to encourage biodiversity but also for his personal fulfilment and satisfaction “for when he has aged 30 or 40 years from now”. He says that this is part of “my five-year plan, my 50-year plan, my 500-year plan” and feels that farmers should think long-term like the native Americans, “seven generations from now”. Sean feels he is on a journey of learning and he is particularly passionate about the importance of soil and making sure it is properly nurtured to ensure good crop health.

“The microbes and the fungi – so minute yet so powerful, they drive the whole system.”

Sean runs numerous education programmes for primary and secondary schools, hosts events for Biodiversity and Heritage Week and opens the farm as an eco-tourist visitor site.

Pat Dunne

Pat is a sixth-generation hill sheep farmer in Glenmalure Valley, Co Wicklow. He farms with his two sons, together keeping 1,100 ewes on 1,250ac of commonage.

The farm is 90% mountain grazing, mostly dry heath and upland grassland which is all designated SAC and NHA. The area is rich in wildlife, including grouse.

Pat takes his role as the current ‘keeper’ of the family’s long tradition of work on the uplands seriously and is anxious to hand over the Wicklow hills in the best possible condition to the next generation of upland farmers. He feels that over the last 40 years there has been a slow but progressive decline in hill sheep farming, with the quality of the grazing declining along with the associated biodiversity, as bracken and Molinia start to take over. Pat was determined to work out a solution to this issue and was instrumental in establishing the new Sustainable Upland Agri-Environmental Scheme (SUAS) so that farmers can work together to the better of the uplands. The project will explore key management issues including vegetation management through targeted grazing, feeding and burning. Pat feels that it is important to keep these places “as living landscapes, not just wilderness”.

Though he recognises the challenges, Pat loves farming and doesn’t “know a better way of life”.

He was one of the first Wicklow farmers to establish an Agreed Access Route on his lands. He is very involved in the local community, also in the Wicklow Uplands Council and at a national level on the IFA’s Hill Committee.

About the award

The national Farming for Nature Award is an independent initiative which is sponsored by An Bord Bia and supported by a wide range of farming and conservation interests including the Deptartment of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the National Rural Network, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Irish Farmers Association, the National Biodiversity Data Centre, Teagasc, the Irish Farmer’s Journal and the Heritage Council.

It developed from the ‘farming for conservation’ awards scheme in the Burren which celebrated those farmers who had done the most for nature and heritage on their land.

The deadline for votes is midnight Thursday 25 October 2018.

Go to www.farmingfornature.ie to view the videos of these inspiring farmers or contact info@farmingfornature.ie for more information.