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Organic Matters Podcast is brought to you every Saturday by the Irish Organic Association. Our host Hannah Quinn-Mulligan will expertly guide you through each episode as we meet organic farmers and food producers from all over Ireland. We have been certifying organic farms and businesses for 40 years and we bring you a flavour of why organic matters now more than ever. Meet some of our fantastic members discussing how organic is central to their business. Tune in every Saturday at 12 noon.
104 Episodes
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This week on Organic Matters, we meet suckler and tillage farmer Jim Stafford. Jim breeds Aubrac cattle, which originally hail from France, alongside his suckler herd. He breeds them both for pedigree breeding purposes and for organic beef and achieves excellent carcase weights.
He also grows combi-crops of cereal and pulses for animal feed as well as oats for Flavahans.
Jim talks about the importance of maintaining soil health and fertility on his farm with a strong focus on soil sampling and keeping a keen eye on his soil's trace elements.
This week on Organic Matters, we meet Steve Collins who farms in West Cork. Having returned from overseas after working on development projects for several years, Steve and his wife Claire purchased a farm in a scenic, but rocky area of the county.
Passionate about producing high-quality, nutritious food, Steve and his family now focus a lot on growing both blueberries and aronia berries, including producing an aronia berry juice.
As demand is strong, Steve is collaborating with another organic family farm in Poland as well as engaging with other local Irish organic farmers to increase the continuity of supply.
This week on Organic Matters, we meet Tony Murphy. Situated in the centre of Cork county, he farms Angus cattle and Beltex sheep as well as tillage.
When we meet, Tony is harvesting arable silage. He breaks down exactly how he makes arable silage, which is usually sowed from the 1st of June and mowed in just 14 to 16 weeks later, touching on seed mixtures, ploughing depth, and fertilisation.
Tony also speaks about other issues including animal husbandry, the importance of soil health and much more.
This week on Organic Matters, we speak to suckler, sheep and tillage farmer Angus Woods.
Angus began the conversion of his farm in January 2024 having experimented with some organic practices in recent years to help futureproof the business.
He talks about the different reasons why he decided to convert to organic and the measures he's taking in his first year of organic conversion to meet organic standards.
This week on Organic Matters, we visit the farm of John and Marcella Mallick near Tinahely in Co. Wicklow.
They have been organic farming since 2011 and as well as running a suckler and sheep enterprise with Galloway cattle, and Scotch sheep cross with Texels, they also grow organic barley for Waterford Distillery to brew into whiskey.
They talk about their experience farming organically over the past 10 years or more from modifying animal housing to organic crop management.
This week on Organic Matters, we meet Brian McCarthy from Cork Rooftop Farm.
With a background in the wholesale flower business, Brian started experimenting with vegetable growing during the pandemic on a small rooftop space and has now taken on a long-term lease on a former 60-acre dairy farm growing vegetables organically just outside Cork city.
Now in his first year of organic conversion, he talks about his keen interest in building a business that grows organic vegetables at scale, selling into a range of different markets from direct sales to supplying into supermarkets and supporting local employment.
Brian also speaks to presenter Hannah Quinn-Mulligan about the steep learning curve of engaging in organic vegetable production from dealing with soil type and difficult field conditions this season to operating a solar-powered seeder and weeder as well as his plans for the future.
This week on Organic Matters we speak to David Sexton of Kildare Farm Foods. David and his wife Susan have been building their farm business near Kildare town since 1996.
In recent years they have started to convert to organic farming and now sell a wide range of their own organic farm produce in their farm shop. The business also offers a range of recreational activities alongside the farm shop and a restaurant, attracting over 150,000 visitors each year.
David talks about their experience developing the range of organic produce available for sale in the farm shop and restaurant as well as their future plans and aspirations.
This week on Organic Matters, we speak to husband and wife team, Dominic Leonard and Alison Duck, who farm 250ac near Durrow in Co Laois.
They run a mixed enterprise including tillage and livestock. Dominic explains the farming system and why he thinks sheep are an important part of the arsenal organic farmers have when it comes to managing land.
They speak about getting LEADER funding to open a farm shop and tearooms to sell their organic meat directly from their farm. They share their experiences, including the challenges of running a micro-business, and why after eight years, they decided to close it.
Produce from the farm is now sold at their local farmers market in Abbeyleix every Saturday.
This week on Organic Matters, we speak to Kate Milligan the Commercial Director at Airfield Estate. The farm is 38 acres and sits next to Ireland's largest shopping centre, Dundrum, in the capital city Dublin.
With its 2-acre food garden certified organic, it is currently converting its farm to organic production, which includes a mix of enterprises including a milking jersey herd and laying hens. As part of its remit, it supports both educational and recreational activities, hosting up to 11,000 children each year, as well as running other outreach such as corporate events, weddings and the very popular FarmerTime programme.
Kate speaks to presenter Hannah Quinn-Mulligan about the work they do and their future plans.
This week on Organic Matters, we speak to beef farmer Rebecca Harris. Rebecca is based in county Wicklow and runs a 230 herd of Angus cattle with her family across 800 acres.
Animals are outside all year round and grass-fed only with a strong focus on animal health and welfare.
Rebecca speaks about getting a premium for their organic beef by selling direct through Avoca under the Ballyhenry Organic Angus brand as well as future plans to build their own abattoir on the farm.
This week on Organic Matters, we meet vegetable grower and farm shop and café owner Michael Foggarty. Michael originally hails from Scotland but has long harboured a love for growing vegetables.
In 2022, he took on a 5-acre plot of land in Beechpark, Clonsilla, Co Dublin and since then has been working to maximise the output from his vegetables selling to restaurants as well as direct sales, alongside building up a farm shop and café on site.
He talks about the wide range of organic produce grown on the farm and the importance of soil health and working with nature.
This week, we meet Sligo based suckler farmer Niall Higgins. Niall farms in partnership with his father. They keep a herd of 25 suckler cows and sell young animals at the weanling and yearling stage at their local organic mart.
He talks about how straight forward the switch has been, stock and grassland management in organics and why preventative health management has saved them time and money.
This week, we catch up with tillage and beef farmer Derek Kelly. Derek is running a trial growing lupins - a potentially important protein crop for the Irish organic market. Ground conditions have delayed planting but Derek explains how he got them eventually into the ground.
He speaks about varieties, ground preparation, seeding rates, and mitigating weed burden as well as touching on his experience with other crops on the farm and his finishing cattle.
This week, Organic Matters meets James and Zeta O'Keeffe on their organic tillage farm in Co Meath. Zeta recently completed a course that has lead the couple to try growing organic gluten free oats for the first time.
They also grow miscanthus for animal bedding, a range of crops for organic animal feed and have installed a large solar panel system.
This week on Organic Matters, we speak to Helen Hughes who farms in Co Meath with her husband and mother. Helen works off farm in the building sector but runs the family suckler farm and has recently switched to organics.
She speaks about why she made the switch and what the conversion process has been like. She also discusses management decisions such as changing to a Hereford stock bull and her plans to incorporate clover in the swards.
This week on Organic Matters, we meet Monaghan farmer Gordon McCoy. Gordon farms on the border and was originally a carpenter by trade but wanted to return full-time to the farm. He considered organic dairy but decided to pursue organic egg production and now manages over 10,000 organic laying hens. He talks about the use of organic feed, and spacious housing for the hens when they are not outside as well as some of the opportunities and challenges of organic egg production.
Gordon also touches on other enterprises on the farm including organic cereals and beef and sheep.
This week on Organic Matters, we hear from Monaghan farmer Turlough Keenan. Turlough was previously a beef farmer but transitioned to organic tillage. Since then, he has been on a journey to create his own on-farm mill to produce flour from a range of heritage wheat varieties for artisan bakeries.
He speaks to Hannah Quinn-Mulligan about the story so far including his experience of organic tillage, the ins and outs of milling grain and the opportunities open to other farmers.
This week on Organic Matters, we speak to organic farmer Gerry Deegan from Co. Westmeath. Previously an organic dairy farmer, Gerry changed his system to forestry and beef some years ago. During the transition, he became obsessed with manure and even had a custom-built machine made to turn farmyard manure into compost.
He speaks about the importance of high-quality manure on a farm.
Kicking off the first episode of Season 3 of our Organic Matters podcast, we speak to organic tillage and beef farmer Derek Kelly. Derek discusses growing several different crops, including rye and, wheat and peas in combination, as well as finishing organic cattle. He also shares his plans to try growing lupins as an organic protein crop to feed his cattle.
In the final instalment of Organic Matters for this season, we speak to Cork organic farmer Conor Sheahan. Conor talks about the tough decision to stop dairy farming in 2018 and focus on maximising profit from the beef side of his business.
This involved switching to organic and putting more emphasis on direct selling of Wagyu beef. The Wagyu is a breed that originally hails from Japan but Conor has made a market out of breeding, rearing and selling Wagyu beef directly to customers.
The Irish Organic Association would like to thank all our listeners for tuning into the Organic Matters podcast this season. We hope to be back soon with more engaging episodes in the new year.
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