Biodiversity and productivity can go hand in hand - Teagasc | Agriculture and Food Development Authority

The future of sustainable dairy farming in Ireland was explored at the Teagasc Moorepark Open Day in early July. As part of the event, the FarmBioNet team shared one key message: biodiversity and productivity can go hand in hand.

In this article, Claudia Barry, Biodiversity Research Technician, Niall Walshe, FarmBioNet Research Officer, Meritxell Grau, FarmBioNet Project Manager, and Saorla Kavanagh, FarmBioNet Project Coordinator & Research Officer, tell us how this can be achieved.

As part of our engagement, we asked farmers: What biodiversity-friendly farming practices are you implementing on your farm?

We received 176 responses, identifying 21 different biodiversity actions already being carried out across all farm types – dairy, beef, sheep, tillage and mixed enterprises. This impressive response shows that farming is already contributing massively to the efforts being made to conserve biodiversity across Ireland.

Some of the most mentioned actions included:

Planting and reduced cutting of hedgerows to allow species to flower.
Reduced management of field margins and non-farmed areas such as hare’s corners, to allow wildflowers to grow.
Creating or maintaining ponds and buffer zones for improved water quality.
Installing bird and bat boxes.
Reducing artificial fertiliser and pesticide use
Introducing or managing diverse swards, e.g. clover and multispecies, to support pollinators and soil health.

Check out our word cloud below to see some of the other fantastic actions:

You spoke, FarmBioNet listened

After lots of fantastic discussions around biodiversity-friendly farming, we asked the FarmBioNet team to share some of their own insights after speaking directly with farmers at the event.

Niall Walshe, FarmBioNet Researcher, said: “At the Moorepark open day, I was struck by the genuine interest farmers showed in enhancing biodiversity. Many were pleasantly surprised to discover they were already supporting biodiversity on their farms, in some cases, without even realising it – and even more uplifting was hearing from farmers that implementing these practices hadn’t impacted their profits.”

Dr Meritxell Grau Butinyac, FarmBioNet Project Manager, added: “Presenting at the Moorepark open day gave us the chance to engage directly with the next generation of farmers. These conversations gave me valuable insight into their awareness of on-farm practices that support biodiversity.

“It was encouraging to see their interest and understanding. By involving young farmers in biodiversity initiatives on their family farms, we can help establish a management culture where biodiversity is not just considered, but integrated, as a core part of sustainable farming.”

The fantastic engagement we received at the Moorepark Open Day just reaffirms what we know: biodiversity friendly farming is already happening on Irish farms, and with the right support, can be a cornerstone of a resilient, productive future for agriculture.

The FarmBioNet project

The project aims to help farmers assess their farm’s biodiversity and implement low-cost, practical actions to enhance biodiversity without negatively impacting production. The project will use a multi-actor approach to determine best practices.

More information about the FarmBioNet project and sign up to the biannual newsletter.

FarmBioNet project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme under project No. 101082102. Associated country partners are funded by SERI.