Rathvilly, Co. Carlow man Fergus Coogan, who is a sales manager at Borris Agri Sales, has been busy carrying out a biodiversity project at his workplace.
Fergus grew up on a mixed farm dairy/dry stock on the Carlow/Kildare border and always had an interest in wildlife and nature in general.
“In recent years we all saw the decline in certain species in birds and insects,” he said.
“Over the years the local gun club completed conservation work for nature, for example installing barn owl boxes in any old house or farm buildings.
“Only a few months ago we had barn owl sightings in the area numerous times,” he said.
“I think in the last 10-15 years we have lost a lot of habitats for birds and insects,” Fergus contended.
He decided to make a difference in a small way by tackling part of the grounds around the site in Borris.
Rather than cutting the grass and spraying for weeds, which he sees as the wrong thing to do, he decided to till the area and sow a wildflower mixture to benefit bees, birds and insects, with the added bonus of a colourful display and beautiful scents in the area during July and August.
“I put out the word locally of what I was trying to achieve and local farmers responded and volunteered time and machinery to the project,” he said.
“It is a true saying: ‘Provide the habitat and they will come.’ This area of ground in my workplace was high maintenance during the spring/summer so I decided to sow wildflowers.
“It’s approximately 200m2 and if goes well, I plan to extend out the back a piece of waste ground with the permission of Jody Kehoe, company director,” he said.
“The local farmers rowed behind me by giving a hand out in tilling and levelling around the area. They thought it was a great idea, great for wildlife and would brighten the area with a variety of colour.
“We sowed the wildflowers on May 19, and it will take eight weeks approximately to establish, depending on the weather.
“At the moment we need rain for germination to take place,” said Fergus.
“I also got help from my brother Noel Coogan who is involved in Hacketstown biodiversity gardens where they are after doing fantastic work on a area of public ground since 2020 . Noel also has his own conservation breeding progamme for our native grey partridge,” said Fergus.
“Going forward, we need to encourage everybody with a garden to provide habitats for nature. Farmers hold the key in this area we need to encourage them to sow wildflowers on small or large pieces of ground that are not being used for tillage or grazing.”