The Footprint Farmers have been busy over the last while on their farms, from making silage to spraying crops.
This week, we have some pictures to give a flavour of what has been happening on these farms to improve sustainability.
Some farmers have been oversowing clover and preparing for reseeding. We will catch up with Martin Crowe in Co Limerick in next week’s paper to see how he is trying to reduce nitrogen use. In the meantime, we’ve included a picture of the pond which Martin dug out on the farm last year.
Andrew Mulhare in Co Laois has been keeping his eye on grass measuring and is thinking about doing some reseeding in the coming weeks.
Pádraig Connery’s spring beans were planted on 5 March and are providing plenty of food for pollinators in Co Waterford.
Barry Powell also did some reseeding in north Tippperary, but not with grass. The dairy farmer planted sunflowers in a calf paddock which needed to be rejuvenated and help with compaction, so said he would give the paddock a break.
It will also provide plenty of food for pollinators and insects on the farm.
Kenneth Reid in Co Limerick was putting out lime after silage on his farm. Having received his soil test results last year Kenneth has been busy tackling fields with low soil pH. This is his second time to apply lime this year.
Kenneth Reid made his second purchase of lime this year when he applied after silage had been harvested. He has been focusing on improving his soil pH to improve grass growth and reduce fertiliser bills.
Ciara Kinsella made haylage last week. Cathal and Tadgh were keeping an eye on proceedings.
Ciara Kinsella has the sheep shorn and the haylage made, while in Co Waterford, Pádraig Connery is waiting for the harvest to come in.
His winter barley looks promising and his beans are alive with pollinators at the minute.
Garreth Culligan in Co Louth planted a combi crop of spring beans and oats. There are also some sunflowers in the mix.
In Co Louth, Garreth Culligan is experimenting with different crop mixes. He sent through a picture of his spring beans, which were planted with oats and sunflowers to add diversity to the soil and try to lower disease risks.
The Footprint Farmers have been busy over the last while on their farms, from making silage to spraying crops.
This week, we have some pictures to give a flavour of what has been happening on these farms to improve sustainability.
Some farmers have been oversowing clover and preparing for reseeding. We will catch up with Martin Crowe in Co Limerick in next week’s paper to see how he is trying to reduce nitrogen use. In the meantime, we’ve included a picture of the pond which Martin dug out on the farm last year.
Andrew Mulhare in Co Laois has been keeping his eye on grass measuring and is thinking about doing some reseeding in the coming weeks.
Pádraig Connery’s spring beans were planted on 5 March and are providing plenty of food for pollinators in Co Waterford.
Barry Powell also did some reseeding in north Tippperary, but not with grass. The dairy farmer planted sunflowers in a calf paddock which needed to be rejuvenated and help with compaction, so said he would give the paddock a break.
It will also provide plenty of food for pollinators and insects on the farm.
Kenneth Reid in Co Limerick was putting out lime after silage on his farm. Having received his soil test results last year Kenneth has been busy tackling fields with low soil pH. This is his second time to apply lime this year.
Kenneth Reid made his second purchase of lime this year when he applied after silage had been harvested. He has been focusing on improving his soil pH to improve grass growth and reduce fertiliser bills.
Ciara Kinsella made haylage last week. Cathal and Tadgh were keeping an eye on proceedings.
Ciara Kinsella has the sheep shorn and the haylage made, while in Co Waterford, Pádraig Connery is waiting for the harvest to come in.
His winter barley looks promising and his beans are alive with pollinators at the minute.
Garreth Culligan in Co Louth planted a combi crop of spring beans and oats. There are also some sunflowers in the mix.
In Co Louth, Garreth Culligan is experimenting with different crop mixes. He sent through a picture of his spring beans, which were planted with oats and sunflowers to add diversity to the soil and try to lower disease risks.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: