Two farmers from Co. Donegal are continuing to share their experience of restoring pastures through regenerative and holistic management approaches.
Farmers John Duffy and Laura McGoran run a regenerative, organic farm in the hills of Donegal, where they hold on-farm events through their ‘Future Oak Farm’ project.
From growing up on a conventional sheep farm in the area, Duffy said that he knew there was always “a bit of an assumption” in Ireland that “there is no future in uplands farming”.
After studying engineering abroad, Duffy came back to Ireland about 10 years ago inspired by key players in the US and the EU in terms of how they restored land areas.
He learned from travelling that people were regenerating land with no inputs, which he said inspired him to see if the positive outcomes would be possible for Ireland using the same management approaches.
Farming in Donegal
Since then both Duffy and McGoran have carried out the experiment using sheep, which proved successful, and later ventured into equine, to use heavier livestock to speed up the process. The farmers are now operating a zero input beef operation successfully.
“The animals never see a bale of hay and never see a shed. We’re three years into this and the ecosystem that we’re managing looks better today than it did when we started.”
“We’re growing grass on areas that were previously just moss. What were areas of grass before, we now have a greater diversity of forage available,” Duffy said.
From there, Duffy said “it was time to find tribe” by reaching out to other farmers in the country that were interested in the same ideas.
Through the use of YouTube and social media platforms, Duffy and McGoran shared their learnings. They then began to organise events to share ideas.
The farmers now collaborate with other organisations, such as Donegal Educational Training Board; Síolta Croí; and Hedgerows Ireland.
Future Oak Farm
One of the events will be held tomorrow (Saturday, November 2) with the help of Hedgerows Ireland, funded by Donegal County Council and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), through the Local Biodiversty Action Fund.
It will include an introduction to hedgelaying, with demonstrations and active learning, with the aim for further likewise events to be held nationwide.
Campaigns officer with Hegerows Ireland, Katie Smirnova said that from events already held, the interest in hedgerow planting is “definitely growing”.
“There are many farmers involved, but also some people from urban areas. We have had some training days in housing estates.
“The interest comes from where hedgerows exist. And the interest has definitely been growing with greater awareness for biodiversity,” Smirnova said.
Both Duffy and McGoran have been in touch with farmers across Ireland, and Duffy said that the interest “is growing massively”.
“If you tell any farmer today that you can carry animals through the winter with no additional feed costs, they come out of the winter happy. The bottom line is that you would a whole chunk of overheads.
“In addition to that, you would improve biodiversity, the local water cycle, and farms are getting more resilient year on year,” he said.
The farmers plan on reaching more counties in the coming months with events to be held both in the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.