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EAR TO THE GROUND

Presenter Darragh MCullough and farrier Sarah Callow. Ear to the Ground,series 26 (final programme,Thursday February 21st.) Image Name: Presenter Darragh MCullough and farrier Sarah Callow. Ear to the Ground,series 26 (final programme,Thursday February 21st.)
Ella McSweeney with Lynda McFarland and Eddie Lowe(Grocery shop story) Ear to the Ground, programme 15,(Thursday February 14th) Image Name: Ella McSweeney with Lynda McFarland and Eddie Lowe(Grocery shop story) Ear to the Ground, programme 15,(Thursday February 14th)
Ear to the Ground presenters, series 26, Ella McSweeney, Helen Carroll(centre) and Darragh McCullough Image Name: Ear to the Ground presenters, series 26, Ella McSweeney, Helen Carroll(centre) and Darragh McCullough
Ear to the Ground presenter Helen Carroll, series 26, programme 8 Image Name: Ear to the Ground presenter Helen Carroll, series 26, programme 8
Ear to the Ground(New seies 26). Presenter Darragh McCullough Image Name: Ear to the Ground(New seies 26). Presenter Darragh McCullough
Ear to the Ground (New series 26). Presenter Ella McSweeney Image Name: Ear to the Ground (New series 26). Presenter Ella McSweeney

SERIES 26, Episode 16

AMMONIA 

In 2016, for the first time, Ireland exceeded its legally binding EU limits on the amount of ammonia in the atmosphere. Since 98% of ammonia in Ireland comes from intensive livestock farming that leaves the sector with a massive problem.

With the slurry spreading season well underway, Ella McSweeney goes to Wicklow to look at ways that slurry can be spread more effectively and with less damage being caused to the surrounding environment. She visits John Cullen on his farm in Rathdrum.

She also goes to a bog being monitored in Clonagh, Offaly to see some of the damage that ammonia has caused to the lichens and other species there.

IF THE SHOE FITS

The blacksmith’s forge was at the heart of every town and village for thousands of years. But today they are few and far between, replaced by motorway stops and body shops. On one west Wicklow farm, the sound of the hammer on anvil still rings out, as farrier Sarah Callow practices her craft. Originally from the Isle of Man, where her grandfather was a blacksmith, Sarah served her apprenticeship in Kildare and married into the Williamson farm family in Stratford on Slaney.  Darragh McCullough visited Sarah in her on-farm forge, tried his hand at horseshoe making and meets some of Sarah’s regular clients.

CALF BONANZA

As the Spring looms, the country dairy farmers face into a hectic calving season. Over a million calves will be born in Ireland in the next few months, and farmers will be flat out tending to their newborn charges. Ed Payne will calve down 500 Friesian cows at his farm in Ballybeg, Co Roscommon this Spring. Helen Carroll visits Ed and finds out how he is managing 10 newborn calves every day, on top of the regular daily tasks of milking, feeding and bedding 1000 animals. It takes all hands on deck, night shifts, and extra help to get through this most frantic period of the year.

Ear to the Ground is produced by indiepics for RTÉ

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