Five Kildare farmers contribute to new book on the future of farming

Irish farmers — including five from Kildare — have joined forces for a new book combining scientific research with local knowledge that gives farmers and others practical tips on how to create a more sustainable future, while protecting land and nature.

At a time of great challenge and uncertainty for farm families, The Farming For Nature Handbook is a practical guide to protecting and restoring nature.

With contributions from more than 50 Irish farmers, the book also shares farmers’ experiences of how working with nature can help reduce costs and improve incomes. 

The five Kildare farmers are: Andrew Bergin, Anthony Mooney, Kim McCall, Stephen Morrison and Trevor Harris.

While there is widespread awareness of the environmental damage caused by poor farming practices, this book in contrast attempts to highlight the positive ways farmers can sustain and enhance our natural environment, and benefit from the results. 

It is hoped The Farming For Nature Handbook will become the essential guide to caring profitably for our land.  

The book, which will be launched on November 28, was inspired by regular requests to the non-profit Farming For Nature project from landowners, farmers, smallholders and growers wanting to learn how best to manage their land, big or small, in a way that enhances habitats, protects profits, and safeguards our natural environment and rural communities. 

The Farming For Nature project was set up to support, encourage and inspire farmers who farm, or who wish to farm, in a way that will improve the natural health of our countryside. A small sample of the Kildare farmers’ tips, advice and expertise included in the book include: 

"I use cover crops to protect my soil from the weather – the canopy of the cover crop reduces the compaction that rain falling on bare ground can cause. It reduces the amount of soil washed away after heavy rain, and the loss of the nutrients with it.”  - Andrew Bergin, tillage farmer in Grattansbrock, Athy.

“There are many different layers of complexity to biodynamic agriculture, but the central aim is to produce nutritious food, in a sustainable manner, while improving the health of the soil that it is produced on, and thus improving the health of anything or anyone that eats what is grown on the farm. The farm still needs to be run on a commercial footing. Farm profitability is also an important part of sustainability. As biodynamic farmers, we work with nature as opposed to fighting it. There is an appreciation of all the plants and animals that live on the farm.” – Trevor Harris, mixed farmer in Cooltrim, Donadea, Naas.

 “Ivy has a bad name but really it is an important habitat, shelter and food source for animals in the winter so no need to be drastic with its management. It adds to the diversity. Ivy does not kill healthy trees (it is not a saprophytic plant that sucks nutrients from host trees, but it does add weight to leafless trees in winter making them more susceptible to wind throw, although usually only those already diseased or weakened). Ivy can be managed by cutting back, without killing it. Keep questioning everything and observe and record. Past management may not be applicable in the future. Keep learning.”  - Kim McCall, beef farmer in Kilcullen.

“Not using fertilisers and herbicides leaves a species rich meadow that is more attractive to birds. Although thistles are usually viewed as unwanted weeds of grazing pastures, their flowers and seeds are of immense feed value to all the finches e.g. yellowhammer, goldfinch, linnet. Be courageous and leave some for the birds!” Anthony Mooney, beef farmer in  Ladychapel, Maynooth.

Stephen Morrison, a beef, tillage and forestry farmer in Kill, Naas speaks about ‘regeneration’ along the bank of the Morell River that passes through the centre of his farm and which his grandfather had straightened by  piling up the banks.

“I fenced off all waterways on the farm and so for the first time in around100 years the river was free from livestock and human intervention. Now 10 years later, the river system has been radically changed with lines of self-seeded alder trees up to 30 foot tall on either bank and an under layer of ferns, ivy, briars and grasses. This natural regeneration has created a rich biodiverse habitat, while the tree’s roots have held the bank in place, better than any excavator ever could!” 

The Farming For Nature Handbook shares tips for a better farming future and shows how to manage land in a way that enhances habitats, increases wildlife and harnesses natural processes while protecting livelihoods, food security and profiles. It is not just targeted at farmers but is for anyone who wants to grow, garden and gather better. 

The book was conceived and developed by Brigid Barry, researched and mainly written by conservation ecologist Dr. Emma Hart on behalf of Farming For Nature and co-edited by Dr. Brendan Dunford of the Burrenbeo Trust. It is beautifully illustrated with watercolours and sketches by farmer and artist Clive Bright as well as digital images by scientific illustrator William Helps.  

The book has been described by President of Ireland Michael D Higgins as “a timely and essential contribution to the on-going discourse on how we, as a society, must respond to some of the most pressing challenges of our time”. 

The Farming For Nature Handbook, published by Dingle Publishing, will be launched on November 28, 2024. RRP €30. It is available to order (and pre-order now) at www.farmingfornature.ie

Commenting, Farming For Nature Manager and co-founder Brigid Barry said:  “There is a massive gap in the market for this book - an easy-to-access toolkit to help tackle the biodiversity and climate crises. We hope it gets into every jeep and tractor in the countryside to guide farmers in these tricky times. Many farmers start by making small changes. Then, as they join a like-minded community and begin to experience the value of nature returning to their farms, they don’t look back. Nature unleashes your land's full potential.” 

The book was supported financially by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Lifes2Good Foundation.  

Farming For Nature co-founder Dr. Brendan Dunford said: “Two thirds of our countryside is owned and managed by farmers, and we view these farmers as potentially a huge resource in addressing the biodiversity crisis that Ireland faces today. This has seen declines in most of our habitats and species – for instance, it’s estimated that we’ve lost 30% of our semi-natural grasslands in only one decade. To mobilise these ‘farmers for nature’ we need better funding but also better guidance, and this handbook will hopefully help inform the journey ahead towards a more sustainable future for our wonderful landscapes and those who farm them.” 

Conservation scientist and co-author Dr. Emma Hart added: "At a time of profound loss—of clean water, healthy soil, and our native wildlife—the Farming For Nature Handbook is both a message of hope and a call to action. It shows how each of us can take charge of the health and vitality of the landscapes we inhabit, and help shift the dial toward a brighter, more resilient future.”