Nature on your farm.

Capercaillie wrote: »

Why?

Too busy, don't know, don't care...basically it's not a priority.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EjPMl4ban0

I says wrote: »

Between the indo today and TheJournal.ie us farmers and culchies are getting hammered for spraying everything or flogging the land to death.
My answer come down and spend a day with a farmer and country dwellers before ye attack us.

I totally agree with you and they should visit cities, towns, and villages, housing estates, factories and see how they are contributing to biodiversity. See how much biodiversity is in town parks and housing estates. Even the tidy towns competition encourages sterile planting of colourful sterile flowers, petunias etc. How much biodiversity will you get from sterile cherry blossoms. How many housing estates have concreted over their front lawns to accommodate two or three car parking.
If we want Ireland biodiverse, stop expanding cities, towns and villages, and razing virgin soil. Stop foreign manufacturing, call a stop to the ever increasing job creation. Instead encourage emigration as was traditional, then we won’t be under pressure to provide cheap food and we can go back to an Ireland full of bushes.

manjou

Had a quick look at the biodiversity website and biggest decline in species is in last 30 odd years. So how has things changed that much in so short a time

80sDiesel

manjou wrote: »

Had a quick look at the biodiversity website and biggest decline in species is in last 30 odd years. So how has things changed that much in so short a time

The food chain. Carpets of green are no replacement for species rich meadows.

Nice vid below of folks taking about old unimproved meadows.

Dinzee Conlee

manjou wrote: »

Had a quick look at the biodiversity website and biggest decline in species is in last 30 odd years. So how has things changed that much in so short a time

And maybe to ask a similar question - what are a few things we could do as farmers on our own farms to improve things?

RandomViewer

manjou wrote: »

Had a quick look at the biodiversity website and biggest decline in species is in last 30 odd years. So how has things changed that much in so short a time

Where I live now there is little or no agriculture anymore, the fields have become waterlogged and rush filled, 40 years ago these fields would have had animals or spuds,
Intensive farming is taking up much less acreage but the anti-rural political parties are using it to attack all rural areas,

Capercaillie

RandomViewer wrote: »

Where I live now there is little or no agriculture anymore, the fields have become waterlogged and rush filled, 40 years ago these fields would have had animals or spuds,
Intensive farming is taking up much less acreage but the anti-rural political parties are using it to attack all rural areas,

Depends on your definition of intensive farming. Biggest driver to farmland biodiversity loss in this country was the advent of early cut silage.

80sDiesel

Capercaillie wrote: »

Depends on your definition of intensive farming. Biggest driver to farmland biodiversity loss in this country was the advent of early cut silage.

Yep.

Green carpet farming breaks the food chain leading to habitat loss.

One late hay cut .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7hevcwIfwk

Capercaillie wrote: »

Depends on your definition of intensive farming. Biggest driver to farmland biodiversity loss in this country was the advent of early cut silage.

I would add that slatted housing was possibly the biggest demise.
I personally despise housing cattle on slats. We have a historical 5 bay slatted shed that we bed with straw to rear calves otherwise it's only used to hold cattle during the annual BTE herd test.

Birdnuts

RandomViewer wrote: »

Where I live now there is little or no agriculture anymore, the fields have become waterlogged and rush filled, 40 years ago these fields would have had animals or spuds,
Intensive farming is taking up much less acreage but the anti-rural political parties are using it to attack all rural areas,

Not so sure about that - over most of the country the BPS provisions have seen huge destruction of many
remaining farmland habitats over the last 10 years or so

Dinzee Conlee

Saw this under a furze bush this evening...
It’s small, maybe an inch or so long...

Any idea what bird it is? There didn’t seem to be any nest from what I could see...

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Saw this under a furze bush this evening...
It’s small, maybe an inch or so long...

Any idea what bird it is? There didn’t seem to be any nest from what I could see...

It looks like a blackbird's egg.

forgottenhills

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Saw this under a furze bush this evening...
It’s small, maybe an inch or so long...

Any idea what bird it is? There didn’t seem to be any nest from what I could see...

The Mini Eggs bird?

Nekarsulm

Poor picture, but saw four hares today in a roadside field.
Don't think I ever saw more than two together before..

Base price wrote: »

I would add that slatted housing was possibly the biggest demise.
I personally despise housing cattle on slats. We have a historical 5 bay slatted shed that we bed with straw to rear calves otherwise it's only used to hold cattle during the annual BTE herd test.

That's an awful waste, if it's the same as mine,
Five bay, double slat both sides can acommodate near 200 cattle.
These fancy meadows are grand to look at, but you can't eat the scenery

Dinzee Conlee

I had thought these were rabbit burrows, they’re not huge. But looking at them this evening, not sure...
Still, they seem small for a badger I would have thought?

Charolois 19

Looks like a badger set, they don't make a massive hole, have a few sets around our place and entrances only a foot or there abouts,

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

I had thought these were rabbit burrows, they’re not huge. But looking at them this evening, not sure...
Still, they seem small for a badger I would have thought?

Looks like badger borrows. They clean their setts out regularly and the debris is dragged out the entrance like in your pictures.

Anto_Meath

Have 20 acres of an out farm at the bottom of a very long quite lane, real quite secluded place, there is the remains of a house with an asbestos roof on it but its a long time since lived there. We have it for over 30 years now, when I was younger there with my dad you would always see loads of rabbits, hares and little birds singing. About 5 years ago a pair of breeding hawks moved in, between them, the foxes and now pine martens there isn't a small bird or rabbit left, nature is a lovely thing but it can cruel, I preferred the rabbits and the birds over any of these vermin...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117683751#Comment_117683751

Bat Conservation Ireland and UCD are looking for people who have bat roosts on their farm/premises to take samples of droppings and send them to UCD for analysis. They want to know what insects they are eating and what role bats play in controlling pest numbers. If you want to get involved click on the link below, it's free.

https://batsandbugs.ie/

whisky_galore

The predators have to eat too. Nature is not a Disney movie

jackboy

A new exasperating trend in my area is the shredding of hedges between fields in June/July. This takes time and effort and there is a cost to it. Don’t see what the farmers are getting out of it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117694225#Comment_117694225

Drive by any ribbon developments of rural housing and you will see the same, they like their surroundings manicured all year round.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117694225#Comment_117694225

I wouldn't think too many farmers are doing that, they can be fined and lose their farm subsidies if caught

whisky_galore

Everyone's at it. Farmers, homeowners, councils, private and state companies.

Nature is getting a hammering from all of the above and esp with the likes of councils and state companies nothing is said about it. I see greenways being developed and trees cut and hedges unnecessarily shaved down to next to nothing and then firing in a few bird boxes as if it's an adequate replacement for something that takes years to regrow.

But shur it's only a few trees and ah shur wha about peoples jobs...typical Ireland.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117694878#Comment_117694878

Does the law & fines apply only to farmers. A nearby mature property changed ownership recently. Trees & shrubs removed, now quarter acre of lawns like a billiard table, to accommodate a robotic lawnmower. They won't be held accountable.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117695855#Comment_117695855

It's illegal to cut any trees, hedges, etc during the nesting season.... 1st March to 31st August every year

jackboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117695938#Comment_117695938

It’s absolutely widespread so that law is not policed in my part of the country. County council also out destroying hedges at that time of year.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117695938#Comment_117695938

I had a look on streetview to see how the property looked in 2018. All trees were torn down 2 months ago. No one will bat an eyelid.