what are you doing to prepare your farm for climate change?

Hoping for a drier, warmer climate myself - though I may be biased (North Mayo!!)

Looking at all teh planes crossing here this morning, I've decided to loook after the environment when every one else does.

Heavy land here so a little drought wouldnt do any harm

Are you asking what are we doing to alleviate climate change OR what are we doing to prepare for the changes when they come?

I have build a large shed and filled it with fertlizer last year so that the rules will not effect me for my lifetime ( around 60 years of age). I intend cutting all hedges to the bone this autumn and every Autumn from now on until they stop me, then I will have 2-3 years before I have a hedge problem.

I have put in a large oil storage tank filled it two years ago when the price was cheap. I have sprayed every weed in the fields and on the ditches. I stockpiled weed killer 5+ years ago and now buy a yearly allowance.

I have a big tractor and a slurry tanker. The tractor has an infra red system for night time spreading of slurry and fertlizer. It has extra wide tyres to get into wet areas and near drains and rivers. I have a mulcher for hedge cutting. It will shatter everything even stone.

I say I am ready for any regulations

I'm mindful of more extreme wet and dry spells, so I'm keeping more Silage than normal. Better to be looking at it than looking for it.

No offence OP, I might be wrong but I get the impression that you might be a person who "farms" as a hobby rather than to produce for sale.

It isn't viable for people to plant three-quarters of their farms with trees if they are actually trying to produce food for supply. It is different if it is only an expensive hobby and people want to grow a few things for themselves.

The importance of food supply is going to become a lot more pronounced over the next few years on a global basis

Regenerative grazing management via mob grazing.

Means that there is Always a Bank of grass as well and I find it helps keep them out later as well.

Nearly like what Wrangler has posted it can be taken too far the other way. This mantra of I'm not here to feed the world looked well five years ago but it's looking a bit selfish and an ill thought out statement now with famine looming.

There's a happy medium of farming for humus/ carbon production with less use of herbicides, pesticides, anthelmintics. Food is medicine. Isn't it better someone is eating your food produced that way than leaving food production to someone else far down the too much route.

That'd be my thinking now. Best of both. We are still paid on volume. Always will be. You have to keep both eyes on all aspects. Otherwise you'll need an off farm job and then your mindset changes dramatically.

A lot of posters are are mistaking what "preparing for climate change" means. It's not changing your operation to reduce your impact on climate change bu what you are doing to deal with the weather changes that come with it.

Since the blizzard and drought I've started preparing more for changing weather. Those were extremes(for Ireland) but the summers are getting hotter every year. We had 3 heat waves last year and this year has already had a bunch of hot days where cattle were slightly uncomfortable. Only going to get hotter in June-August

To deal with this I'm adding in bigger water troughs. Upgrading the well and sinking pipes across the farm to split every field into suitable paddocks.

Fly-Pour on 3 times over the summer. Something I already do but insects are exploding in numbers in my area.

Shaving backs at Winter and using lime 3-4 times on their backs. Keeps animals cooler and reduces outbreaks of lice during warm Winter weather.

Making sure every paddock has suitable shelter. I have lots of tress and thick hedgerow across my farm. It's one of the biggest nuisances on the farm because of the work and trouble it causes but when there is a hot day animals need shelter. At a Teagasc Open Day they said "Trees and hedges have no place on a farm" and went as far as to laugh at anyone who tried to make an argument. The animals must have been miserable on their farm during the drought or any heat wave since.

I've also started moving towards shorter haired breeds. Someone once told me Salers were the breed of the future because of the thick hair for our cold climate but unless you are out wintering animals need to be more conditioned for our growing warmer climate.

Going to invest in solar panels to supply the farmyard's electricity.

I have water tanks setup under the gutters of most buildings. One I used for power washing and adding water to slurry tanks, the other for drinking water in the cow shed.

With increased growth rates for grass in recent years it's also come with the problem of increased ivy and briars. My whole county is being destroyed by them, nearly every tree is covered in ivy on my farm. Not sure what to do, can't take up a full time job trimming ivy all day.

Has the weather gotten that much hotter to date. Few good weeks the last few years but its been the same way for as long as I can remember. In fact I would have thought summers were better years ago, more settled less rain. Might not have been as effected by drought as people seemed to be stocked lighter back then. Maybe I am wrong but would have thought the bigger change has come on the winter side of things with more rain and milder conditions.

As for the shelter whilst I would be a big advocate for good hedges and good trees ,more from an aesthetics perspective than anything, I would also have fields split into paddocks with some having minimal or no shelter. Animals were as happy in these the past few years basking in the sunshine and were definitely well removed from been miserable.