Farming for Nature farm walk with Gerry Fitzsimons

Onsight Insights are a series of farm walks whereby a number of Farming for Nature (FFN) Ambassadors will showcase their contribution to nature and good farming practices on their land, as well as highlight their practical on-farm actions to support biodiversity and climate.

Cavan Ambassador Gerry Fitzsimons from Kilcogy, is the next farmer on the FFN farm walk schedule this year. This walk will take place on Saturday, July 1 at 2pm. The theme of this farm walk is “Grass-fed beef farming and building habitats to support biodiversity.”

Gerry Fitzsimons is an organic beef farmer. Having farmed conventionally for some years and seeing the damage that some of the conventional farming practices were having on nature on his land, he decided to go organic and farm in a more holistic manner. Gerry used to run suckler farm, but he now buys in a small number of angus bullocks every year and fattens them on the farm before selling them, mostly direct to customers via his meat scheme.

Gerry has been running a grass-fed beef system for some 20 years. There is about 6 acres of birch woodland on the farm, and the land ranges from some good grassland to heavy land to bogland. Even though a lot of the grassland was reseeded in the 90s, a lot of plant diversity has returned to the pasture and Gerry now has some good multi species pasture again.

The farming system is very extensive and external inputs are minimal. The cattle are in for a very short period over winter where they are bedded on rushes cut from the land. Some haylage is cut every year to supplement winter feeding. There is lots of space for biodiversity and wildlife on the farm, from bog and ponds to thick hedges, pockets of woodland and an orchard.

Gerry is delighted to have a pair of nesting buzzards on the land. There are lots of frogs and newts on the farm, as well as badgers, foxes, rabbits and hares. Gerry and his family take a holistic approach to life and are passionate about protecting nature in any way possible – “Anything that I can do to encourage better care of our environment, on or off the farm, I’m happy to do it.”

These walks are a great opportunity to meet like minded farmers and to gain an insight into the creative and inspiring ways that farmers are working to incorporate, protect and enhance nature on their land. There is a great diversity of Ambassadors set to host farm walks this year covering a range of farming systems from tillage to dairy, forestry to market gardening, mixed stock to high nature value farming, and lots more in between. There are farm walks scheduled for each province in Ireland.

The walks cost €10 to attend. This is a not-for-profit initiative and all monies received will be circulated back into the farming community.

For more information and to book your place on a walk, please go to https://www.farmingfornature.ie/ events/farm-walks/ or contact lucy@farmingfornature.ie