NSA Northern Ireland Region attending farm visit

Upland farming can deliver ecosystem services and biodiversity gain through a viable livestock food-production system, Irish researchers told delegates this week. 

NSA attended the Cafre/Teagasc Uplands Symposium this week, which included a farm visit of the Glenwherry Farm in the Antrim hills. The 960ha farm – bought by the ministry in 1963 for £39,100 – comprises just 5% in bye land, with half of it being bog or moorland, and the other half bring grassland as part of a Severely Disadvantaged Area. 

The farm is in the Antrim Hills Special Protected Area (SPA) for Hen Harrier and Merlin running 1,100 ewes and 100 suckler cows. 

Cafre’s Head of Sustainable Land Management, Mark Scott told delegates: “The ultimate aim is to keep carbon in the hill and add to the storage of carbon whilst creating habitat for a diverse range of plant, insect and animal species. Efficient, productive livestock are key to helping deliver this.”

NSA policy manager Michael Priestley attended the symposium and says: “Upland farming is under pressure across the UK, and facing an existential challenge in some regions. What Cafre and Teagasc both advocate for is a balanced farming system that provides food and so much more. The work being done at Cafre can be used strategically to show the value of appropriately grazed sheep and cattle in sensitive upland areas as much of what they do is replicable and practical.”

Find out more from the event and the further details on the farm here.