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  • Season 5: Growing organic potatoes, apples and beef finishing

    Season 5: Growing organic potatoes, apples and beef finishing
    2026/08/29
    This week on the Organic Matters Podcast, we speak to farmer Donald Treacy, based near Athy in Co. Kildare, who runs a mixed organic farm with his wife Aideen and two sons. Donald discusses the different enterprises on Battlemount Organic Farm, which include potatoes, apples, beef and inter-crops for animal feed. The Treacys converted over a decade ago and haven’t looked back since, as it has provided the farm with many options for diversification, and enabled all members of the family to be actively involved. Both the potatoes and processed apples are sold locally as well as to an independent organic retailer, while finished organic stock is sold to an organic processor. Donald touches on various aspects of the business, including the importance of fertility for crops, the management of his suckler herd, and the production of a popular apple juice from native apple varieties in recent years.
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    14 分
  • Season 5: Making a business from organic veg

    Season 5: Making a business from organic veg
    2026/08/15
    This week, long time organic vegetable grower Dermot Carey, based in South Kildare, talks to the Organic Matters Podcast about his business. Coming from a family involved in vegetable growing and wholesaling over the years, Dermot cut his teeth in the industry from a young age. He speaks about the range of produce his grows and the different markets he uses. This includes selling directly to customers via farmers' markets, small independent shops, restaurants, as well as some wholesale. Dermot describes the changes in consumer buying habits shifting away from "traditional" Irish veg and about the types of vegetables that work well for him on his farm. In addition to touching on his approach to growing he also speaks about the need to be just as good at the business and numbers side of vegetables and being savvy about responding to consumer demand.
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    25 分
  • Season 5: Organic beef finishing and growing your own grain

    Season 5: Organic beef finishing and growing your own grain
    2026/08/01
    This week on the Organic Matters Podcast, we speak to farmer Brian Meredith based in Co. Laois, who runs a spring and autumn organic suckler-to-beef herd with his father. He discusses coming home to farm, the transition to organics and re-integrating tillage back onto the farm to diversify the business and increase feed autonomy. Brian talks about breeding Angus and Hereford cattle as they finish well off grass, learning to grow their own grain to feed younger stock and their experience with preventative health management in the herd. He also looks ahead to the future of the farm and tells listeners about the farm’s involvement in an initiative commissioned by the Irish Organic Association to map all the different habitats and estimate the carbon storage and sequestration potential on the farm using LiDAR technology
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    25 分
  • Season 5: Managing organic grasslands in dry conditions and experimenting with living mulches

    Season 5: Managing organic grasslands in dry conditions and experimenting with living mulches
    2026/07/18
    This week on the Organic Matters Podcast, we speak with Mary Lynch, an independent organic advisor and ACA member who also runs a mixed suckler beef and tillage farm with her husband in Co. Tipperary. Mary reflects on how organic farmers are currently dealing with dry conditions and the value of incorporating red clover and multi-species varieties into grasslands, where appropriate, to support more climate resilience on farm. She touches on the fact that drought conditions still come with their own challenges when it comes to re-seeding or stitching as well as maintaining a good sward over this period. Elsewhere, Mary talks about ongoing trials on ‘living mulches’ that they are undertaking and the results so far. This involves an oat crop being directly sown into a multi-annual cover of small leaf white clover with the aim of stimulating soil biology and assisting with weed suppression. She also shares her own experience on how the family farm finishes cattle on grass, capitalising on grass-clover ley in their arable rotation.
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    21 分
  • Season 5: Farming in the Burren and renovating old buildings for agri-tourism

    Season 5: Farming in the Burren and renovating old buildings for agri-tourism
    2026/07/04
    This week's Organic Matters Podcast meets organic suckler farmer Pat McCarthy who is farming in the Burren. His children are the ninth generation on their family farm in Co. Clare where they have over 300 acres of land, which includes a substantial amount of winterage as well as summer-grazing ground. Pat tends to breed a mixture of Angus and Shorthorn crosses, which he finds work well with his land. He has also put his building skills to work over the years, renovating old stone sheds into cottages on the farm to create a thriving business using Airbnb. The agri-tourism business has been successful in capitalising on the nearby Wild Atlantic Way tourism trail, with tourists from around the world interested in staying on a working organic farm.
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    19 分
  • Season 5: Going from conventional dairy to organic beef

    Season 5: Going from conventional dairy to organic beef
    2026/06/20
    This week, farmer Pat Maher talks to the Organic Matters Podcast about his journey from being a dairy farmer with a nitrates derogation to an organic suckler farmer. Based on the edge of the Golden Vale near Cashel, Co. Tipperary, Pat hasn’t looked back since converting to organics. He speaks to presenter Hannah Quinn-Mulligan about establishing a new suckler herd, trialling clover and multi-species mixes, understanding what weeds are indicating, and learning more about composting and soil biology.
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    23 分
  • Season 5: Converting from conventional to organic beef and building a new shed

    Season 5: Converting from conventional to organic beef and building a new shed
    2026/06/06
    This week, we are launching Season 5 of the Organic Matters Podcast brought to you by the Irish Organic Association. In this first episode, we are delighted to speak with organic beef farmer Ruth Young, based in Co. Laois, about her transition from conventional to organic production. Ruth talks about developing relationships with other organic farmers and the expansion of organic marts for purchasing her finishing stock, building new winter housing and improving her soil management by optimising grazing practices.
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    17 分
  • Season 4: Outwintering beef cattle on cover crops and growing crop mixes

    Season 4: Outwintering beef cattle on cover crops and growing crop mixes
    2025/12/20
    In the final episode of Season 4 of the Organic Matters Podcast, we meet organic farmers Aoife Gibney and Eamon Campbell on their beef and tillage farm in Co. Meath. The couple are recent converts to organics, becoming full-symbol organic this year. Aiofe and Eamon calve in both the Autumn and the Spring and artificially inseminate their heifers, with a mixture of Sailor, Limousine, Charolais and the odd bit of Angus, making up the herd. They talk about converting their housing to meet the organic spacing requirements, with a combination of slatted and straw-bedded areas. They also speak about some of the reasons they made the move and their experience going organic in recent years, which they have found very stimulating and a new challenge. This has included growing red clover and whole-crop silage for their cattle, as well as outwintering cattle on kale. Typically, cattle have been sold into the local marts, with Aoife and Eamon weighing up different options for the future.
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    17 分