Organic Promotion Project 2024
As well as our farm walks programme we are proud to announce the launch of the Cultivating Resilience Through Organic Farming with Trees (CROFT) Project.
This comprehensive initiative is aimed at promoting agroforestry and organic farming practices on the island of Ireland. This project is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine Organic Promotion Fund.
The CROFT Project is a collaborative effort involving BioBeo Horizon Europe Project (BioBeo), BiOrbic, Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre, University College Dublin (UCD), Maynooth University, Centre for Environmental Living and Training (CELT), National Organic SkillNet, Trees on the Land, Kinsale College, Teagasc, Queens University Belfast, Pocket Forests, and The Organic Trust.
An integral part of the CROFT Project is the educational outreach to primary schools, featuring an educational poster series and the distribution of willow baskets filled with organic vegetables. These baskets will include a tree book, recipes, and additional resources.
Click here for more details about this exciting new initiative.
Moy hill farm Lackamore, Lahinch, Co. Clare
This farm walk was supported by Organic Promotion Funding provided by the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine
Moy Hill farm is a 65 acre mixed regenerative farm on the west coast of Ireland run by Sally and Fergal Smith. They have incorporated thousands of trees on their farm to act as windbreaks, alleyways and shelterbelts.
Their focus is producing healthy food for their customers while building a healthy and resilient ecosystem. They are producing vegetables, beef, lamb and eggs which are sold directly from the farm as well as on local markets and through their online shop. Moy Hill Farm
John McHugh’s organic farm, Co. Laois
This farm walk was supported by Organic Promotion Funding provided by the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine
“It’s all about connection, connection of trees, wildlife, butterflies, but the connection with people as well. ”
John Mc Hugh’s dairy and tillage farm consists of 230 acres. He has been farming organically since 2015. He practises holistic grazing and incorporates the principles of permaculture and agroforestry. John moved away from being an intensive dairy farmer when he realised the need to create a sustainable and resilient lifestyle that his children could carry on. He has adapted from a commodity and profit driven production system of dairy farming to one focused on family succession, long term environmental goals and nature based farming.
Since 2015, he has sown diverse pastures, practises holistic grazing that allows pastures to flower and seed enabling some natural succession to take place and bringing about huge jumps in insect populations. In 2018 he decided to open up his farm to people that were able to teach others about engaging with the land and reconnecting with nature, this saw the birth of the Clondarrig community farm project. See more information and a short film on John’s farm here.