cross for terminal. They are fed on home grown hay and like the cattle REFLECTIONS If every farm across the world could growing, living, breeding where we intend are fed a controlled amount of fodder. keep a green cover on the ground for as to farm. Just because what is there is not The pregnant ewes get approximately exactly what we want, it doesn’t mean it CALVERSTOWN long as possible, we could restore the 1 pound of concentrates in the last 6 carbon in soils. should not be there at all. weeks of pregnancy. No meal is fed to the lambs. 80% of the world soils have been depleted Maybe plants and creatures can just be or lost and soil organic matter has dropped moved over slightly to the side instead of HOUSE Biodiversity is life and the more on average from 5% to 1%. That is a huge being eradicated. biodiversity you have, the more life you amount of carbon that has been gasifi ed. have, from the smallest to the largest. Every farm has little corners that are We fi rmly believe that the suckler cow can awkward. Let biodiversity live there, let The more habitats you can provide Farming for nature be a friend rather than a foe in keeping your hedgerows be wildlife corridors, and the more biodiversity you will carbon in the soil, as well as being a let just a few of your “weeds” fl ower and have: old trees, hedges, dark valuable food source (most trees are not), support life. Those small areas can make places, sunny sheltered if the appropriate breeds are used and a big difference, cost nothing and have no spots, wet areas, dry areas managed in an appropriate manner. They impact on your farming income. The Aubrac is a solid, all etc… if you provide a can be a positive tool in enhancing high round effi cient breed. suitable space, Nature biodiversity grassland. The cows produce a will fi ll it. On this farm, For advice look up: quality calf per year at a we have many such As farmers, collectively, we have control FarmingForNature.ie or Pollinators.ie minimum cost (mother’s habitats and we have the over vast areas of land. Not everyone has amongst others. Life on earth has had 3.5 milk and grass). They wildlife to match it. There that chance. Many people who have no billion years of research and development, calve unassisted. Vet bills will always be room for land would love that opportunity to make a it has always swung either side of balance and meal bills are small. They new ones. It would be better difference on the ground. Let us not waste and is constantly evolving. have good beefi ng ability (even not to have invasive species the huge opportunity we, as farmers, have. We as a species should listen to these on a grass only diet) and their kill-out but if they are there, you have to live Unlike someone sitting at a desk in front of a systems because Planet comes fi rst and is high. They are the perfect breed for with them and Nature will work it out. computer, a farmer never has a blank page individual species come a very distant true sustainable farming. All creatures are welcome as they all in front of him. There is always something second. The herd is a pedigree herd and most contribute something. All they need is, animals are registered in the Aubrac like ourselves, a safe place to live and Herd-Book. It is fully monitored and part rear the next generation. of Herd Plus, BDGP and the Whole Herd With the help of Birdwatch Kildare, Recording Program from ICBF. Most of we have put up several types of the animals are sold as breeding stock. nest boxes. We also participate in There are also 60 ewes. They produce monitoring schemes with the National on average 1.65 lambs/per year. Biodiversity Data Centre (butterfl ies The ewes are a Rouge de l’Ouest and bumblebees), but all species can cross, the rams used are Rouge for be recorded and anyone can do it from replacement and Beltex or Beltex beginners to professionals. Who knows, you could become a world authority on The farm has received multiple awards: a less known species…. Just give it a go! 1989 winner of All Ireland ICI-Farmers Journal Farming Conservation Awards; A 214 acre farm situated on the ancient settlement The farm will be involved in a European 1999 winner, RDS-Bank of Ireland Profi table Farming And Conservation Awards; Innovation Project coordinated by the of Calverstown. In 1280, a Norman Knight named also Award winner for Leinster of REPS 2000; National Biodiversity Centre. It will Thomas Calf took possession of the domain, giving involve 40 farms of different types. Runner up of RDS National Forestry Awards in 2011. The aim is to monitor pollinators his name to the village. on those farms, advise farmers Featured on Ear-To-The-Ground in the late 90s on how to improve the habitat and in December 2016 (carbon footprint). The farm was purchased by Peter McCall in 1958 and come up with a general In 2018 it was one of six fi nalists in the new Farming For Nature Awards. scale which could be applied to and taken over by his son Kim in 1986. The modern all farms across the country to day farm is managed in a holistic manner. What measure their pollinator habitat. Contact details: Calverstown House, Calverstown, we are promoting is excellent biological activity We are looking forward to fi rst of Kilcullen, Co. Kildare R56 AY82 all knowing more about the species and interaction between plants, soils and animals. that live on our farm and then learning Kim McCall: 086 844 82 84 how to look after them better. Mireille McCall: 086 345 13 73 www.calverstownaubrac.com www.calverstownaubrac.com As an experiment in May 2019 we direct are purposely left wide and surplus to be attacked by predators the soil for many hundreds of drilled 20 different types of plants fallen branches can be added and a healthy soil will grow a years, some say thousands. PLANTS in one fi eld – grasses, cereals at the base to create yet healthy plant. A cover of grass This method produces ANIMALS Pasture management has changed The farm carries 75 pedigree Aubrac and legumes directly into an another habitat. Anything is left on the soil for the winter nutrient dense forage which dramatically in the last 10 years from set suckler cows and followers and stock existing living pasture (no use of goes except excessive and mowed in the spring in turn has the potential stocking to rotational paddock grazing. bulls. The average number of bovines on roundup). spraying and cutting. as the space is needed. Hay of producing truly forage Paddock grazing can go now from 1 the farm all year round is approximately Nutrients to pastures: Slurry There are a number of wet or straw reclaimed from the fi nished animals, without week to 2 days, depending on age of 150. in January/February depending on the farm. sheds is used to mulch along the need for cereals. This animals and group size and topography. grasslands on year: 1100 gallons + 2000 These can be productive with lawn mowings. Seedlings is a way to reverse global In winter the cows are fed only on The idea is to leave grass to grow grass, gallons of water per acre go on 60 as well as rich in diversity are grown mostly in the warming, taking CO2 out hay, haylage or silage depending on so the cows are removed before re- acres. Slurry in May, 1000 but need a more careful polytunnel and transplanted of the atmosphere and the year. They are fed a set amount in growth occurs. This allows the grass not gallons + 2500 gallons management than conventional outdoors when the weather sequestering it back into the morning and a small amount in to be checked and photosynthesis not to of water/acre go on grassland as you are trying to permits. The potatoes are the soil, from where it came the evening. All cows can feed at the be impeded. 50 different acres. achieve a number of different aims. In a placed on the soil surface and from in the fi rst place. Home same time. They do not get meal. The At the end of the day we all live on Additives to slurry: nutshell, cattle are excluded in the mulched with compost, old made biochar is produced heifers are fed mostly silage in the same hay or cut grass. We are not photosynthesis, be it ancient (petrol in humates, biochar, summer time from these areas and in a fl ame cap kiln, burning manner. Bulls for sale are fed silage ad afraid of weeds, they all make your car) or recent (milk on your cereals). penergetics or allowed to graze from September to scrap wood, in a way that lib and approximately 2kg/day of ration excellent mulch with added minerals. We try to graze effectively so we don’t Sobac, boron, end of April. This creates fl owering the fl ame itself excludes oxygen from over the winter. Almost all the fodder need to top. The sheep move around, molasses, sea habitat that will re-seed naturally and A series of ponds that were present in the bottom layer, which will pyrolise is produced on the farm water on agitation areas for various species to breed. the 1800s and subsequently fi lled in rather than ash. This makes with or without the cattle. but depending on the and spreading. The grazing cow is the management have been reintroduced in the last 30 biochar while giving very little All pastures are . year a small amount old permanent pastures It is spread with a tool. years. The largest of them, situated in a smoke. Biochar needs to The youngest pasture is about 50 years can be purchased pipe and splash plate, The operation, approximately damp area has been surrounded with a be charged with nutrients old. Over-seeding with a diversity of forestry from neighbours on a cool windless day if 30 acres, is constantly evolving. 40,000 forestry plantation of mainly deciduous (slurry, manure…) species was used on a couple of fi elds , all straw is possible. trees have been planted in the last trees (6 ha). At the centre of the farm, this before being applied. If where they had been abused through purchased. Other nutrients used are natural 60 years. They are a mixture of softwood forms a complete wildlife heaven. applied un-charged, it previous poor management practice. rock: lime (2 tons/acre); polysulphate and hardwood. In 2015 a plantation of will absorb the nutrients On average Leaving a suffi cient grass cover when the (50 kg/acre); basalt dust (1 to 2 tons/acre) Sitka Spruce was clear felled. It has been from its surroundings. all animals are animals are moved from the pasture and added to farmyard manure and mixed. replanted with mainly Sitka but also a SOIL Photosynthesis is turned out to using a variety of grasses rather than a In 2019, 20 tons of quartzite (silica) will diversity of other species, birch, chestnut, Homemade Biochar is added to slurry also a very important grass around the monoculture means that there are no bare also be spread. Farmyard manure is alder etc... In other parts of the farm there and manure. By adding biochar, the factor. For this reason we 20th of March. patches. Every inch of ground is covered. spread in spring or late summer at about are also oak and beech woodlands. The more soluble nutrients will be locked in remove the cows from the Fertility and health The grass is thick and nutrient rich. 4 tons/acre. old trees on the farm have been carefully the pores of the char instead of leaching paddocks when there is still are high due to good Some of the species include, clovers, The hedgerows are managed as retained. They provide food and habitat away and made available to plants 4 inches of grass. This is the solar nutrition and the breed plantain, dandelions, daisies, yarrow shelterbelts and for biodiversity. The for a huge number of species. Replacing when needed, via biology, microbes, panel that allows the leaf to recharge chosen. The cattle do not get mineral amongst others. They all have their roles to roadside hedges are trimmed yearly a large tree by a sapling mycorrhiza, bacteria, and so on. The the roots which feed the biology in buckets but get rocksalt to lick. They (better than not replacing surface area of 1 gram of ground play as mineral collectors and also provide in winter but top and roadside only. the ground, which in turn feed the get the minerals they need through a it!) will take a hundred bio-char is equivalent to the fl owers for insects and seeds for birds. All other hedges are never touched or plant that grows the leaf. All this adds variety of nutrient rich grasses (grass in years to provide the surface area of a football maintained only if needed. carbon to the soil, keeps an open soil, summer/home grown fodder in winter). same habitat. pitch. Bio-char will in itself The cows trim the fi eld side where they water holding capacity increases and it sequester carbon by being We have chosen the Aubrac breed for can reach it. The same applies to the The vegetable garden will be more able to withstand unusual very stable and will stay in its ease of management and its true grasses at the bottom of the hedge. The is also an integral part climatic changes . Organic matter is built sustainability. It is a mountain breed, base of the hedges are never sprayed. of the farm, and is cared through photosynthesis and biology able to digest rough forage. Hay is the The hedges are predominantly hawthorn for in the same way. It is a and this produces stable humus. There is ultimate fodder, giving a large biomass and blackthorn. no dig garden with some also the misconception that only clover / permanent beds. Plants legumes can produce nitrogen. Wrong. at the least cost. Where gaps have occurred they have benefi cial to pollinators and been fi lled with fi eld maple, hornbeam, All green living plants in relationship other insects (dead nettles, woundwort) dogrose (all capable of growing in the with soil microbes can and do through are left to grow amongst the vegetables shade) with added crab apple, spindle, the process of photosynthesis – and fl owers. Some of these vegetables guelder rose, hazel, holly, red and black exudates capture atmospheric nitrogen. are left to provide fl owers, especially currants. All are good for fl owers, berries The atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% in the spring, seeds and stems for egg and nuts. Oak and beech trees are also oxygen, the balance is all the rest. This laying or hibernating. No pesticides are planted in the hedge as future trees. equates to 74 to 78 thousand tons used. By providing permanent habitat, of atmospheric nitrogen above each A hedge planted on a bank is best. This it helps to balance pest and predator hectare of ground (and farmers buy it in creates more than one habitat. Hedges numbers. A healthy plant is less likely bags across the world…). As an experiment in May 2019 we direct are purposely left wide and surplus to be attacked by predators the soil for many hundreds of drilled 20 different types of plants fallen branches can be added and a healthy soil will grow a years, some say thousands. PLANTS in one fi eld – grasses, cereals at the base to create yet healthy plant. A cover of grass This method produces ANIMALS Pasture management has changed The farm carries 75 pedigree Aubrac and legumes directly into an another habitat. Anything is left on the soil for the winter nutrient dense forage which dramatically in the last 10 years from set suckler cows and followers and stock existing living pasture (no use of goes except excessive and mowed in the spring in turn has the potential stocking to rotational paddock grazing. bulls. The average number of bovines on roundup). spraying and cutting. as the space is needed. Hay of producing truly forage Paddock grazing can go now from 1 the farm all year round is approximately Nutrients to pastures: Slurry There are a number of wet or straw reclaimed from the fi nished animals, without week to 2 days, depending on age of 150. in January/February depending on the farm. sheds is used to mulch along the need for cereals. This animals and group size and topography. grasslands on year: 1100 gallons + 2000 These can be productive with lawn mowings. Seedlings is a way to reverse global In winter the cows are fed only on The idea is to leave grass to grow grass, gallons of water per acre go on 60 as well as rich in diversity are grown mostly in the warming, taking CO2 out hay, haylage or silage depending on so the cows are removed before re- acres. Slurry in May, 1000 but need a more careful polytunnel and transplanted of the atmosphere and the year. They are fed a set amount in growth occurs. This allows the grass not gallons + 2500 gallons management than conventional outdoors when the weather sequestering it back into the morning and a small amount in to be checked and photosynthesis not to of water/acre go on grassland as you are trying to permits. The potatoes are the soil, from where it came the evening. All cows can feed at the be impeded. 50 different acres. achieve a number of different aims. In a placed on the soil surface and from in the fi rst place. Home same time. They do not get meal. The At the end of the day we all live on Additives to slurry: nutshell, cattle are excluded in the mulched with compost, old made biochar is produced heifers are fed mostly silage in the same hay or cut grass. We are not photosynthesis, be it ancient (petrol in humates, biochar, summer time from these areas and in a fl ame cap kiln, burning manner. Bulls for sale are fed silage ad afraid of weeds, they all make your car) or recent (milk on your cereals). penergetics or allowed to graze from September to scrap wood, in a way that lib and approximately 2kg/day of ration excellent mulch with added minerals. We try to graze effectively so we don’t Sobac, boron, end of April. This creates fl owering the fl ame itself excludes oxygen from over the winter. Almost all the fodder need to top. The sheep move around, molasses, sea habitat that will re-seed naturally and A series of ponds that were present in the bottom layer, which will pyrolise is produced on the farm water on agitation areas for various species to breed. the 1800s and subsequently fi lled in rather than ash. This makes with or without the cattle. but depending on the and spreading. The grazing cow is the management have been reintroduced in the last 30 biochar while giving very little All pastures are . year a small amount old permanent pastures It is spread with a tool. years. The largest of them, situated in a smoke. Biochar needs to The youngest pasture is about 50 years can be purchased pipe and splash plate, The operation, approximately damp area has been surrounded with a be charged with nutrients old. Over-seeding with a diversity of forestry from neighbours on a cool windless day if 30 acres, is constantly evolving. 40,000 forestry plantation of mainly deciduous (slurry, manure…) species was used on a couple of fi elds , all straw is possible. trees have been planted in the last trees (6 ha). At the centre of the farm, this before being applied. If where they had been abused through purchased. Other nutrients used are natural 60 years. They are a mixture of softwood forms a complete wildlife heaven. applied un-charged, it previous poor management practice. rock: lime (2 tons/acre); polysulphate and hardwood. In 2015 a plantation of will absorb the nutrients On average Leaving a suffi cient grass cover when the (50 kg/acre); basalt dust (1 to 2 tons/acre) Sitka Spruce was clear felled. It has been from its surroundings. all animals are animals are moved from the pasture and added to farmyard manure and mixed. replanted with mainly Sitka but also a SOIL Photosynthesis is turned out to using a variety of grasses rather than a In 2019, 20 tons of quartzite (silica) will diversity of other species, birch, chestnut, Homemade Biochar is added to slurry also a very important grass around the monoculture means that there are no bare also be spread. Farmyard manure is alder etc... In other parts of the farm there and manure. By adding biochar, the factor. For this reason we 20th of March. patches. Every inch of ground is covered. spread in spring or late summer at about are also oak and beech woodlands. The more soluble nutrients will be locked in remove the cows from the Fertility and health The grass is thick and nutrient rich. 4 tons/acre. old trees on the farm have been carefully the pores of the char instead of leaching paddocks when there is still are high due to good Some of the species include, clovers, The hedgerows are managed as retained. They provide food and habitat away and made available to plants 4 inches of grass. This is the solar nutrition and the breed plantain, dandelions, daisies, yarrow shelterbelts and for biodiversity. The for a huge number of species. Replacing when needed, via biology, microbes, panel that allows the leaf to recharge chosen. The cattle do not get mineral amongst others. They all have their roles to roadside hedges are trimmed yearly a large tree by a sapling mycorrhiza, bacteria, and so on. The the roots which feed the biology in buckets but get rocksalt to lick. They (better than not replacing surface area of 1 gram of ground play as mineral collectors and also provide in winter but top and roadside only. the ground, which in turn feed the get the minerals they need through a it!) will take a hundred bio-char is equivalent to the fl owers for insects and seeds for birds. All other hedges are never touched or plant that grows the leaf. All this adds variety of nutrient rich grasses (grass in years to provide the surface area of a football maintained only if needed. carbon to the soil, keeps an open soil, summer/home grown fodder in winter). same habitat. pitch. Bio-char will in itself The cows trim the fi eld side where they water holding capacity increases and it sequester carbon by being We have chosen the Aubrac breed for can reach it. The same applies to the The vegetable garden will be more able to withstand unusual very stable and will stay in its ease of management and its true grasses at the bottom of the hedge. The is also an integral part climatic changes . Organic matter is built sustainability. It is a mountain breed, base of the hedges are never sprayed. of the farm, and is cared through photosynthesis and biology able to digest rough forage. Hay is the The hedges are predominantly hawthorn for in the same way. It is a and this produces stable humus. There is ultimate fodder, giving a large biomass and blackthorn. no dig garden with some also the misconception that only clover / permanent beds. Plants legumes can produce nitrogen. Wrong. at the least cost. Where gaps have occurred they have benefi cial to pollinators and been fi lled with fi eld maple, hornbeam, All green living plants in relationship other insects (dead nettles, woundwort) dogrose (all capable of growing in the with soil microbes can and do through are left to grow amongst the vegetables shade) with added crab apple, spindle, the process of photosynthesis – and fl owers. Some of these vegetables guelder rose, hazel, holly, red and black exudates capture atmospheric nitrogen. are left to provide fl owers, especially currants. All are good for fl owers, berries The atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% in the spring, seeds and stems for egg and nuts. Oak and beech trees are also oxygen, the balance is all the rest. This laying or hibernating. No pesticides are planted in the hedge as future trees. equates to 74 to 78 thousand tons used. By providing permanent habitat, of atmospheric nitrogen above each A hedge planted on a bank is best. This it helps to balance pest and predator hectare of ground (and farmers buy it in creates more than one habitat. Hedges numbers. A healthy plant is less likely bags across the world…). As an experiment in May 2019 we direct are purposely left wide and surplus to be attacked by predators the soil for many hundreds of drilled 20 different types of plants fallen branches can be added and a healthy soil will grow a years, some say thousands. PLANTS in one fi eld – grasses, cereals at the base to create yet healthy plant. A cover of grass This method produces ANIMALS Pasture management has changed The farm carries 75 pedigree Aubrac and legumes directly into an another habitat. Anything is left on the soil for the winter nutrient dense forage which dramatically in the last 10 years from set suckler cows and followers and stock existing living pasture (no use of goes except excessive and mowed in the spring in turn has the potential stocking to rotational paddock grazing. bulls. The average number of bovines on roundup). spraying and cutting. as the space is needed. Hay of producing truly forage Paddock grazing can go now from 1 the farm all year round is approximately Nutrients to pastures: Slurry There are a number of or straw reclaimed from the fi nished animals, without week to 2 days, depending on age of wet 150. in January/February depending sheds is used to mulch along the need for cereals. This animals and group size and topography. grasslands on the farm. on year: 1100 gallons + 2000 These can be productive with lawn mowings. Seedlings is a way to reverse global In winter the cows are fed only on The idea is to leave grass to grow grass, gallons of water per acre go on 60 as well as rich in diversity are grown mostly in the warming, taking CO2 out hay, haylage or silage depending on so the cows are removed before re- acres. Slurry in May, 1000 but need a more careful polytunnel and transplanted of the atmosphere and the year. They are fed a set amount in growth occurs. This allows the grass not gallons + 2500 gallons management than conventional outdoors when the weather sequestering it back into the morning and a small amount in to be checked and photosynthesis not to of water/acre go on grassland as you are trying to permits. The potatoes are the soil, from where it came the evening. All cows can feed at the be impeded. 50 different acres. achieve a number of different aims. In a placed on the soil surface and from in the fi rst place. Home same time. They do not get meal. The At the end of the day we all live on Additives to slurry: nutshell, cattle are excluded in the mulched with compost, old made biochar is produced heifers are fed mostly silage in the same hay or cut grass. We are not photosynthesis, be it ancient (petrol in humates, biochar, summer time from these areas and in a fl ame cap kiln, burning manner. Bulls for sale are fed silage ad afraid of weeds, they all make your car) or recent (milk on your cereals). penergetics or allowed to graze from September to scrap wood, in a way that lib and approximately 2kg/day of ration excellent mulch with added minerals. We try to graze effectively so we don’t Sobac, boron, end of April. This creates fl owering the fl ame itself excludes oxygen from over the winter. Almost all the fodder need to top. The sheep move around, molasses, sea habitat that will re-seed naturally and A series of ponds that were present in the bottom layer, which will pyrolise is produced on the farm water on agitation areas for various species to breed. rather than ash. This makes with or without the cattle. the 1800s and subsequently fi lled in but depending on the and spreading. The grazing cow is the management have been reintroduced in the last 30 biochar while giving very little All pastures are . year a small amount old permanent pastures It is spread with a tool. years. The largest of them, situated in a smoke. Biochar needs to The youngest pasture is about 50 years can be purchased pipe and splash plate, The operation, approximately damp area has been surrounded with a be charged with nutrients old. Over-seeding with a diversity of forestry from neighbours on a cool windless day if 30 acres, is constantly evolving. 40,000 forestry plantation of mainly deciduous (slurry, manure…) species was used on a couple of fi elds , all straw is possible. trees have been planted in the last trees (6 ha). At the centre of the farm, this before being applied. If where they had been abused through purchased. Other nutrients used are natural 60 years. They are a mixture of softwood forms a complete wildlife heaven. applied un-charged, it previous poor management practice. rock: lime (2 tons/acre); polysulphate and hardwood. In 2015 a plantation of will absorb the nutrients On average Leaving a suffi cient grass cover when the (50 kg/acre); basalt dust (1 to 2 tons/acre) Sitka Spruce was clear felled. It has been from its surroundings. all animals are animals are moved from the pasture and added to farmyard manure and mixed. replanted with mainly Sitka but also a SOIL Photosynthesis is turned out to using a variety of grasses rather than a In 2019, 20 tons of quartzite (silica) will diversity of other species, birch, chestnut, Homemade Biochar is added to slurry also a very important grass around the monoculture means that there are no bare also be spread. Farmyard manure is alder etc... In other parts of the farm there and manure. By adding biochar, the factor. For this reason we 20th of March. patches. Every inch of ground is covered. spread in spring or late summer at about are also oak and beech woodlands. The more soluble nutrients will be locked in remove the cows from the Fertility and health The grass is thick and nutrient rich. 4 tons/acre. old trees on the farm have been carefully the pores of the char instead of leaching paddocks when there is still are high due to good Some of the species include, clovers, The hedgerows are managed as retained. They provide food and habitat away and made available to plants 4 inches of grass. This is the solar nutrition and the breed plantain, dandelions, daisies, yarrow shelterbelts and for biodiversity. The for a huge number of species. Replacing when needed, via biology, microbes, panel that allows the leaf to recharge chosen. The cattle do not get mineral amongst others. They all have their roles to roadside hedges are trimmed yearly a large tree by a sapling mycorrhiza, bacteria, and so on. The the roots which feed the biology in buckets but get rocksalt to lick. They (better than not replacing surface area of 1 gram of ground play as mineral collectors and also provide in winter but top and roadside only. the ground, which in turn feed the get the minerals they need through a it!) will take a hundred bio-char is equivalent to the fl owers for insects and seeds for birds. All other hedges are never touched or plant that grows the leaf. All this adds variety of nutrient rich grasses (grass in years to provide the surface area of a football maintained only if needed. carbon to the soil, keeps an open soil, summer/home grown fodder in winter). same habitat. pitch. Bio-char will in itself The cows trim the fi eld side where they water holding capacity increases and it sequester carbon by being We have chosen the Aubrac breed for can reach it. The same applies to the The vegetable garden will be more able to withstand unusual very stable and will stay in its ease of management and its true grasses at the bottom of the hedge. The is also an integral part climatic changes . Organic matter is built sustainability. It is a mountain breed, base of the hedges are never sprayed. of the farm, and is cared through photosynthesis and biology able to digest rough forage. Hay is the The hedges are predominantly hawthorn for in the same way. It is a and this produces stable humus. There is ultimate fodder, giving a large biomass and blackthorn. no dig garden with some also the misconception that only clover / permanent beds. Plants legumes can produce nitrogen. Wrong. at the least cost. Where gaps have occurred they have benefi cial to pollinators and been fi lled with fi eld maple, hornbeam, All green living plants in relationship other insects (dead nettles, woundwort) dogrose (all capable of growing in the with soil microbes can and do through are left to grow amongst the vegetables shade) with added crab apple, spindle, the process of photosynthesis – and fl owers. Some of these vegetables guelder rose, hazel, holly, red and black exudates capture atmospheric nitrogen. are left to provide fl owers, especially currants. All are good for fl owers, berries The atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% in the spring, seeds and stems for egg and nuts. Oak and beech trees are also oxygen, the balance is all the rest. This laying or hibernating. No pesticides are planted in the hedge as future trees. equates to 74 to 78 thousand tons used. By providing permanent habitat, of atmospheric nitrogen above each A hedge planted on a bank is best. This it helps to balance pest and predator hectare of ground (and farmers buy it in creates more than one habitat. Hedges numbers. A healthy plant is less likely bags across the world…). cross for terminal. They are fed on home grown hay and like the cattle REFLECTIONS If every farm across the world could growing, living, breeding where we intend are fed a controlled amount of fodder. keep a green cover on the ground for as to farm. Just because what is there is not The pregnant ewes get approximately exactly what we want, it doesn’t mean it CALVERSTOWN long as possible, we could restore the 1 pound of concentrates in the last 6 carbon in soils. should not be there at all. weeks of pregnancy. No meal is fed to the lambs. 80% of the world soils have been depleted Maybe plants and creatures can just be or lost and soil organic matter has dropped moved over slightly to the side instead of HOUSE Biodiversity is life and the more on average from 5% to 1%. That is a huge being eradicated. biodiversity you have, the more life you amount of carbon that has been gasifi ed. have, from the smallest to the largest. Every farm has little corners that are We fi rmly believe that the suckler cow can awkward. Let biodiversity live there, let The more habitats you can provide Farming for nature be a friend rather than a foe in keeping your hedgerows be wildlife corridors, and the more biodiversity you will carbon in the soil, as well as being a let just a few of your “weeds” fl ower and have: old trees, hedges, dark valuable food source (most trees are not), support life. Those small areas can make places, sunny sheltered if the appropriate breeds are used and a big difference, cost nothing and have no spots, wet areas, dry areas managed in an appropriate manner. They impact on your farming income. The Aubrac is a solid, all etc… if you provide a can be a positive tool in enhancing high round effi cient breed. suitable space, Nature biodiversity grassland. The cows produce a will fi ll it. On this farm, For advice look up: quality calf per year at a we have many such As farmers, collectively, we have control FarmingForNature.ie or Pollinators.ie minimum cost (mother’s habitats and we have the over vast areas of land. Not everyone has amongst others. Life on earth has had 3.5 milk and grass). They wildlife to match it. There that chance. Many people who have no billion years of research and development, calve unassisted. Vet bills will always be room for land would love that opportunity to make a it has always swung either side of balance and meal bills are small. They new ones. It would be better difference on the ground. Let us not waste and is constantly evolving. have good beefi ng ability (even not to have invasive species the huge opportunity we, as farmers, have. We as a species should listen to these on a grass only diet) and their kill-out but if they are there, you have to live Unlike someone sitting at a desk in front of a systems because Planet comes fi rst and is high. They are the perfect breed for with them and Nature will work it out. computer, a farmer never has a blank page individual species come a very distant true sustainable farming. All creatures are welcome as they all in front of him. There is always something second. The herd is a pedigree herd and most contribute something. All they need is, animals are registered in the Aubrac like ourselves, a safe place to live and Herd-Book. It is fully monitored and part rear the next generation. of Herd Plus, BDGP and the Whole Herd With the help of Birdwatch Kildare, Recording Program from ICBF. Most of we have put up several types of the animals are sold as breeding stock. nest boxes. We also participate in There are also 60 ewes. They produce monitoring schemes with the National on average 1.65 lambs/per year. Biodiversity Data Centre (butterfl ies The ewes are a Rouge de l’Ouest and bumblebees), but all species can cross, the rams used are Rouge for be recorded and anyone can do it from replacement and Beltex or Beltex beginners to professionals. Who knows, you could become a world authority on The farm has received multiple awards: a less known species…. Just give it a go! 1989 winner of All Ireland ICI-Farmers Journal Farming Conservation Awards; A 214 acre farm situated on the ancient settlement The farm will be involved in a European 1999 winner, RDS-Bank of Ireland Profi table Farming And Conservation Awards; Innovation Project coordinated by the of Calverstown. In 1280, a Norman Knight named also Award winner for Leinster of REPS 2000; National Biodiversity Centre. It will Thomas Calf took possession of the domain, giving involve 40 farms of different types. Runner up of RDS National Forestry Awards in 2011. The aim is to monitor pollinators his name to the village. on those farms, advise farmers Featured on Ear-To-The-Ground in the late 90s on how to improve the habitat and in December 2016 (carbon footprint). The farm was purchased by Peter McCall in 1958 and come up with a general In 2018 it was one of six fi nalists in the new Farming For Nature Awards. scale which could be applied to and taken over by his son Kim in 1986. The modern all farms across the country to day farm is managed in a holistic manner. What measure their pollinator habitat. Contact details: Calverstown House, Calverstown, we are promoting is excellent biological activity We are looking forward to fi rst of Kilcullen, Co. Kildare R56 AY82 all knowing more about the species and interaction between plants, soils and animals. that live on our farm and then learning Kim McCall: 086 844 82 84 how to look after them better. Mireille McCall: 086 345 13 73 www.calverstownaubrac.com www.calverstownaubrac.com cross for terminal. They are fed on home grown hay and like the cattle REFLECTIONS If every farm across the world could growing, living, breeding where we intend are fed a controlled amount of fodder. keep a green cover on the ground for as to farm. Just because what is there is not The pregnant ewes get approximately exactly what we want, it doesn’t mean it CALVERSTOWN long as possible, we could restore the 1 pound of concentrates in the last 6 carbon in soils. should not be there at all. weeks of pregnancy. No meal is fed to the lambs. 80% of the world soils have been depleted Maybe plants and creatures can just be or lost and soil organic matter has dropped moved over slightly to the side instead of HOUSE Biodiversity is life and the more on average from 5% to 1%. That is a huge being eradicated. biodiversity you have, the more life you amount of carbon that has been gasifi ed. have, from the smallest to the largest. Every farm has little corners that are We fi rmly believe that the suckler cow can awkward. Let biodiversity live there, let The more habitats you can provide Farming for nature be a friend rather than a foe in keeping your hedgerows be wildlife corridors, and the more biodiversity you will carbon in the soil, as well as being a let just a few of your “weeds” fl ower and have: old trees, hedges, dark valuable food source (most trees are not), support life. Those small areas can make places, sunny sheltered if the appropriate breeds are used and a big difference, cost nothing and have no spots, wet areas, dry areas managed in an appropriate manner. They impact on your farming income. The Aubrac is a solid, all etc… if you provide a can be a positive tool in enhancing high round effi cient breed. suitable space, Nature biodiversity grassland. The cows produce a will fi ll it. On this farm, For advice look up: quality calf per year at a we have many such As farmers, collectively, we have control FarmingForNature.ie or Pollinators.ie minimum cost (mother’s habitats and we have the over vast areas of land. Not everyone has amongst others. Life on earth has had 3.5 milk and grass). They wildlife to match it. There that chance. Many people who have no billion years of research and development, calve unassisted. Vet bills will always be room for land would love that opportunity to make a it has always swung either side of balance and meal bills are small. They new ones. It would be better difference on the ground. Let us not waste and is constantly evolving. have good beefi ng ability (even not to have invasive species the huge opportunity we, as farmers, have. We as a species should listen to these on a grass only diet) and their kill-out but if they are there, you have to live Unlike someone sitting at a desk in front of a systems because Planet comes fi rst and is high. They are the perfect breed for with them and Nature will work it out. computer, a farmer never has a blank page individual species come a very distant true sustainable farming. All creatures are welcome as they all in front of him. There is always something second. The herd is a pedigree herd and most contribute something. All they need is, animals are registered in the Aubrac like ourselves, a safe place to live and Herd-Book. It is fully monitored and part rear the next generation. of Herd Plus, BDGP and the Whole Herd With the help of Birdwatch Kildare, Recording Program from ICBF. Most of we have put up several types of the animals are sold as breeding stock. nest boxes. We also participate in There are also 60 ewes. They produce monitoring schemes with the National on average 1.65 lambs/per year. Biodiversity Data Centre (butterfl ies The ewes are a Rouge de l’Ouest and bumblebees), but all species can cross, the rams used are Rouge for be recorded and anyone can do it from replacement and Beltex or Beltex beginners to professionals. Who knows, you could become a world authority on The farm has received multiple awards: a less known species…. Just give it a go! 1989 winner of All Ireland ICI-Farmers Journal Farming Conservation Awards; A 214 acre farm situated on the ancient settlement The farm will be involved in a European 1999 winner, RDS-Bank of Ireland Profi table Farming And Conservation Awards; Innovation Project coordinated by the of Calverstown. In 1280, a Norman Knight named also Award winner for Leinster of REPS 2000; National Biodiversity Centre. It will Thomas Calf took possession of the domain, giving involve 40 farms of different types. Runner up of RDS National Forestry Awards in 2011. The aim is to monitor pollinators his name to the village. on those farms, advise farmers Featured on Ear-To-The-Ground in the late 90s on how to improve the habitat and in December 2016 (carbon footprint). The farm was purchased by Peter McCall in 1958 and come up with a general In 2018 it was one of six fi nalists in the new Farming For Nature Awards. scale which could be applied to and taken over by his son Kim in 1986. The modern all farms across the country to day farm is managed in a holistic manner. What measure their pollinator habitat. Contact details: Calverstown House, Calverstown, we are promoting is excellent biological activity We are looking forward to fi rst of Kilcullen, Co. Kildare R56 AY82 all knowing more about the species and interaction between plants, soils and animals. that live on our farm and then learning Kim McCall: 086 844 82 84 how to look after them better. Mireille McCall: 086 345 13 73 www.calverstownaubrac.com www.calverstownaubrac.com