Organic Matters

This week on the Organic Matters Podcast, we speak to farmer Brian Meredith based in Co. Laois, who runs a spring and autumn organic suckler-to-beef herd with his father. He discusses coming home to farm, the transition to organics and re-integrating tillage back onto the farm to diversify the business and increase feed autonomy.

Brian talks about breeding Angus and Hereford cattle as they finish well off grass, learning to grow their own grain to feed younger stock and their experience with preventative health management in the herd.

He also looks ahead to the future of the farm and tells listeners about the farm’s involvement in an initiative commissioned by the Irish Organic Association to map all the different habitats and estimate the carbon storage and sequestration potential on the farm using LiDAR technology

This week on the Organic Matters Podcast, we speak with Mary Lynch, an independent organic advisor and ACA member who also runs a mixed suckler beef and tillage farm with her husband in Co. Tipperary.

Mary reflects on how organic farmers are currently dealing with dry conditions and the value of incorporating red clover and multi-species varieties into grasslands, where appropriate, to support more climate resilience on farm. She touches on the fact that drought conditions still come with their own challenges when it comes to re-seeding or stitching as well as maintaining a good sward over this period.

Elsewhere, Mary talks about ongoing trials on ‘living mulches’ that they are undertaking and the results so far. This involves an oat crop being directly sown into a multi-annual cover of small leaf white clover with the aim of stimulating soil biology and assisting with weed suppression. She also shares her own experience on how the family farm finishes cattle on grass, capitalising on grass-clover ley in their arable rotation.

This week's Organic Matters Podcast meets organic suckler farmer Pat McCarthy who is farming in the Burren. His children are the ninth generation on their family farm in Co. Clare where they have over 300 acres of land, which includes a substantial amount of winterage as well as summer-grazing ground. Pat tends to breed a mixture of Angus and Shorthorn crosses, which he finds work well with his land.

He has also put his building skills to work over the years, renovating old stone sheds into cottages on the farm to create a thriving business using Airbnb. The agri-tourism business has been successful in capitalising on the nearby Wild Atlantic Way tourism trail, with tourists from around the world interested in staying on a working organic farm.

This week, farmer Pat Maher talks to the Organic Matters Podcast about his journey from being a dairy farmer with a nitrates derogation to an organic suckler farmer.

Based on the edge of the Golden Vale near Cashel, Co. Tipperary, Pat hasn’t looked back since converting to organics. He speaks to presenter Hannah Quinn-Mulligan about establishing a new suckler herd, trialling clover and multi-species mixes, understanding what weeds are indicating, and learning more about composting and soil biology.

This week, we are launching Season 5 of the Organic Matters Podcast brought to you by the Irish Organic Association. In this first episode, we are delighted to speak with organic beef farmer Ruth Young, based in Co. Laois, about her transition from conventional to organic production.

Ruth talks about developing relationships with other organic farmers and the expansion of organic marts for purchasing her finishing stock, building new winter housing and improving her soil management by optimising grazing practices.