THERE WAS an air of excitement around the Connemara farm of Brendan O’Malley near Recess last week where the Heritage Council presented its report on high nature value (HNV) farming.
Mr O’Malley and other farmers who had taken part in the study had gathered to hear what it had thrown up to support their way of life. The men in suits had come and listened to what they had said and this, they said, was the first time this had happened.
These farmers have a collective wisdom on how to make a living from some of the most inhospitable land in Europe, something the Heritage Council wants to preserve because of its importance to the land and the flora and fauna.
But, according to the authors of the report, consultants George Smith and John Bligh, the farming practices and the entire culture of the area is being threatened.
Some farms are being abandoned and scrub is taking over.Farmers are no longer using seaweed as fertiliser and the day when every farm had a plot of vegetables and a pig is dying fast.
No more are potatoes being exported from the Aran Islands and farmers in north Connemara have to take their animals long distances to be slaughtered. Rye is no longer grown for thatching and little hay is saved. We have reached the stage when traditional farm practices may have to be retaught to farmers.
Out on the farm we were shown the wet, species-rich grassland on which Mr O’Malley runs his 36 ewes and six cows. He relies heavily on commonage, as do his neighbours. The following day on Seán Nee’s seashore farm near Renvyle we are shown his 55 acres and there too the stocking rate is low – a common link between areas of high nature value.
Mr Nee, like the others, relies on the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (Reps). The farmers worry consumers may not be prepared to support the concept of HNV farming and say this will have to be sold very hard.
They would like to be able to continue farming in a traditional way and the prospect of receiving support is exciting.
They see it as a way to survive and appreciate the prospects it may hold out not only for them but for their children. “It will be a long hard road but it’s worth fighting for,” said Mr Nee.