Real activism in action

In last month’s issue, Matt O’Keeffe highlighted – in his A Word in Your Ear column – who he believed to be the real environmental activists in Ireland right now. Don Somers was the focus of that, having won the Teagasc FBD Environmental Sustainability Awards 2025, and those awards are the focus of this piece. As well as scooping the overall win, the Somers’ farm was also rewarded for its work on improving water quality, picking up a separate category win. Both accolades were achieved on the back of farm management practices that show how intensive tillage farming can be carried out without adverse impacts on the surrounding environment.

Enhancing water quality

To avoid imposing risks to water quality, especially as Don is farming close to the Barrow river, he has reduced nitrogen inputs by 20 per cent. Achieving this through improved soil management, careful nutrient planning and optimising organic manure application, Don has still maintained efficiency, yield potential, and overall margins. Science plays a big part in decision making and farming operations. He uses precision tools like GPS and yield mapping to optimise production and productivity, applying inputs to the levels required – no more and no less – while avoiding risk to the surrounding environment. After each harvest, Don puts in catch crops where the ground will not be reseeded until the following spring. As a general observation, this established and regulated practice is being reviewed at official level to ensure a blanket approach to cover cropping does not have negative impacts on birdlife winter-feeding needs. Riparian buffer zones have also been put in place, with the explicit dual aims of protecting water quality and improving biodiversity alongside watercourses.

No-plough system

The Somers farm extends to 183 hectares. Farming with his uncle Jim, Don grows winter and spring cereals using a minimum-tillage system since 2018, with a firm focus on protecting soil structure and biology. Fertiliser planning is based on crop nutrient removal and regular soil tests. Organic manures, including poultry litter, farmyard manure, and dairy sludge, are analysed and applied with his own spreader and weigh cells, boosting soil organic matter while reducing costs. High-tech science is involved in many aspects of soil management, while simple observational practices still play a part in soil preservation, with regular inspection of soil structure and earthworms. Don chops and reintegrates half the straw to improve organic soil matter. This reduces fertiliser demand, acts as a barrier to nitrogen leaching, and improves soil structure, seedbed preparation, and water absorption.
The precision technology, mentioned above, which include yield maps and nitrogen sensors, allows for variable nutrient application, while improving efficiency and crop health, and, at the same time, reducing the environmental impact of the tillage enterprise. Integrated pest management is in place to maintain biodiversity on the farm.

Reducing emissions

Margaret Dollard and her son Patrick won a category award for reducing greenhouse gas emissions on their Kilkenny farm. They achieved this distinction by placing a lot of emphasis on soil fertility. Over 90 per cent of soils on the Dollard farm are optimum for phosphorous (P) and 100 per cent of soils have optimum pH. Despite having potassium (K)-fixing soils making it difficult to build fertility, a little-and-often approach has delivered positive results. Over 60 per cent of the farm has clover-rich swards and this has allowed the Dollards to reduce chemical nitrogen (N) use by 20 per cent. Most of the nitrogen applied is protected urea, with no reduction in growth or sward productivity. They maintain grass and silage quality with regular harvesting of surplus grass across the growing season.
The other successful ingredients include good genetics and attention to animal health on the dairy beef farm to deliver steer finish at an average 21.5 months with two thirds of the animals finished before the second winter at a carcass weight of 325kg. Stocking rate is 2.51LU/hectare (ha) with over 11 tonnes of grass produced per hectare. The result from a greenhouse gas emissions perspective is a carbon footprint of 7.6kg of CO₂eq/kg LW.

Biodiverse farming excellence

Tom Tierney, a tillage farmer from Kildare won an award for enhancing biodiversity on his farm. Improvements in hedgerows, field margins, and reductions in pesticide use, alongside the enhancement of low-input grassland (LIG) and the creation of pollinator sites since 2019 all contributed to Tom securing the biodiversity accolade. Into the future the adoption of continuous cover forestry will also benefit biodiversity, while maintaining commercial viability. Tom is also using compost to help improve the fertility and biological status of his soils, improving below-ground biodiversity.

Enterprise diversity

The diversity award went to Cork-based beef and sheep farmer Emer O’Keeffe, for her achievements in making her farm more economically and environmentally sustainable. The farm was converted to organic production three years ago. There has been an emphasis on improving farm infrastructure, including fencing, roadways and housing, as well as a reseeding programme based on incorporating multispecies and clover. Part of the O’Keeffe farm has been switched into hazelnut production, with investment in a plantation of two-hundred and fifty commercial varieties of hazelnut which will be processed and sold locally. Direct-selling their own lamb and beef is another diversification to improve sustainability.

The organic route to sustainability

Another Cork category winner in these sustainability awards, for organic production, was Kay O’Sullivan, an organic beef and sheep farmer. The O’Sullivan farm is operated as a closed unit with all feed produced on the farm. Multispecies swards are used to good effect in raising farm productivity, with redstart utilised to finish lambs outdoors, while red clover provides excellent silage quality. Cattle are finished without concentrates at under 20 months, also contributing to profitability figures. Grass productivity is impressive with the O’Sullivan farm growing 11.4t DM/ha. The carbon footprint for this farm is 7.6 kg CO₂eq/kg LW.

Soil health winner

The Improving Soil Health category delivered a sustainability award for Galway milk producers Conor and Vincent O’Brien. This was all about balance, according to the adjudication panel. While maintaining efficient dairy production, the O’Briens have prioritised the protection of soil biodiversity through the optimal utilisation of the natural potential of their low-input and extensively grazed farm. Sixty-six per cent of the farm has good overall soil fertility, with over 90 per cent of the farm measured as being at optimum levels for soil pH. This is confirmed with soil analysis showing 56 per cent in Index 3 and 4 for P and 66 per cent is Index 3 and 4 for K. Attention to soil conditions and the relevant management of stock and machinery traffic during wet times has kept soil on the O’Brien farm in optimum productivity. The farm hosts three contrasting types of grassland, including conventionally managed, low-input, and an extensively grazed pasture. Diverse swards support more diverse soil bacterial and fungal communities, delivering optimised nutrient cycling, soil structure, and overall resilience, allowing the O’Briens to grow grass efficiently and sustainably. The farm combines strong technical output with sustainability. Stocking rate is 2.4 LU/ha, with cows producing 430kg of milk solids annually. Grass utilisation last year hit 8.7t DM, with the herd genetics achieving an EBI of €251 and DBI of €74. The important carbon footprint milk production on the Loughrea dairy farm is 0.9kg CO₂ eq/kg of FPCM.