I can’t recall ever hearing the saying, ‘A wet and windy May fills the barn with corn and hay’, as much as this year. We’re paying for our dry April now but hopefully things will balance out again over the summer. Usually you would notice a few more yellow fields appearing, […]
Farming
It’s been a hectic few weeks across all levels of agriculture. Calving continues or is coming to an end, depending on where you are and your land type; the 2021 grazing season is up and running and the draft of the next agri-food strategy has been released for public consultation. […]
A new agri-food strategy for the coming years is set to change the focus of Irish agriculture. The draft of the strategy marks a sharp contrast to the growth and consolidation aspirations contained in previous strategies such as Food Harvest 2020 and Foodwise 2025 and shows how much the view […]
It’s been a funny time in agriculture lately. Prices across most sectors have been improving or holding steady. Despite this, there is an air of uncertainty in the background, as the new Climate bill is digested and CAP negotiations continue. The final details of both and how they will impact […]
That blast of sunshine over the last few days of February would make you forget the soaking that 2021 has delivered thus far. Usually the second month of the year sees fields in West Cork spring into life but there was a stronger chance of them developing springs instead of […]
With Ireland’s nitrates derogation giving farmers the opportunity to farm at higher stocking rates (above 170 kg livestock manure nitrogen/ha up to 250 nitrogen/ha) once they take extra steps to protect the environment, it’s all about improving environmental imprint for farmers such as Ballinascarthy’s Vivian Buttimer. With ‘nitrates’ the key […]