‘It’s about leaving space for nature’

By Rebekah O’Reilly

Offaly native farmer Ken Gill has been embracing nature in order to increase productivity on his farm.

The beef and tillage farmer was recently selected as the Farming For Nature Ambassador for Offaly, thanks to his efforts to farm in a way that will improve the natural health of the countryside.

“I’m farming in Clonbullogue for 40 years, and I’ve been doing the organic farming for about 10 years now,” Ken said.

“I was delighted to be chosen as the Farming For Nature Ambassador. You can be as efficient as possible, and still allow space for the environment.”

Farming For Nature selects a number of ambassadors from around the country each year to promote the idea of protecting and enhancing nature on farms around the country.

Explaining the work of Farming For Nature, Ken said: “It’s about leaving space for nature. Within the bounds of my fields, I leave a perimeter for the grass to grow, and for the wide hedgerows.

“It’s a small space that makes a big impact for biodiversity. That’s what I’m doing at the moment, putting up electric fences at the boundary to allow space for nature to grow, and it makes a difference.”

Ken operates a rotation within his fields, allowing him to produce both high quality organic beef as well as oats for popular brand Flahavans.

He said by introducing nature friendly techniques into his farming, he has managed to increase his production output.

“I’ve improved a lot. It’s about marrying that scientific approach and the environmental approach to get a positive outcome.

“It’s a case of looking at your farm, and seeing are there areas that aren’t productive. That’s where you can allow nature to creep in a bit.”

Ken is also involved with Teagasc as part of their Future Beef Programme, the aim of which is to demonstrate to beef farmers how they can produce a quality product as efficiently as possible to make beef farming more profitable.

“You learn best from other farmers. Teagasc offer an educational programme where you can show people what can be done,” Ken said.

“I’d like to do more with ponds and water features in the future – and I can go to a farmer who has experience in those areas, and learn from them. If someone is starting out, and they want to learn about organic beef farming, I do farm walks, and they can learn from me, too.”