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Designed to encourage farmers to participate in the pollinator plan for Ireland, 1,000 farmers will be given free native wildflowers this March at four marts in Tipperary.
Tipperary County Council and Design By Nature are the brains behind the giveaway.
Seed mixture
The advice and seed mixture contain the Frank Newman Turner, Fertility Farming, Fertility Pastures and Herdsmanship lays, using deep-rooted perennial plants to recycle leached minerals, lock carbon, combat drought and attract beneficial insects to the farm to assist with pest management.
It would be best to introduce farmers to the benefits of wildflowers with a simple mixture
The official launch of the giveaway will be at Nenagh Mart on Tuesday 26 March and the next mart will be Cahir Mart on 27 March.
The other two marts involved are Tipperary Town Mart and Roscrea Mart - both dates have yet to be confirmed.
Wildflower benefits
Following on from the National Biodiversity Conference, both parties decided it would be best to introduce farmers to the benefits of wildflowers with a simple mixture that would grow across a wide variety of soil types and situations.
The information contained in the seed pack has web links for farm support and further research. It ties into the research currently ongoing at Teagasc trials to attract pollinators to farm crops.
Species
The 30 species in the seed packs include perennials such as birdsfoot trefoil, clover and vetch to fix nitrogen, yarrow and wild carrot to recycle lost nutrients and many flowering perennials to attract insects and fix carbon.
Annuals are included as a nurse crop and a small amount of grass to assist with seed scattering.
According to seed supplier Sandro Cafolla of Design By Nature: “The biggest problem we face is getting farmers to sow the seeds finely, as its unlike grass. Another issue is, being free, will they sow them at all?
“So we've asked them to give them to schools or tidy town groups instead of wasting them.”
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