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EAR TO THE GROUND

Ear to the Ground - Series 27 _Presenters - Helen Carroll, Darragh McCullough & Ella McSweeney Image Name: Ear to the Ground - Series 27 _Presenters - Helen Carroll, Darragh McCullough & Ella McSweeney

Series 27, Episode 11

Hemp farming

The growing popularity of CBD oil is helping Wicklow farmer Ed Hanbidge find a market for his 40 acres of hemp this year. The hemp plant, a member of the cannabis family, is one of the most versatile crops and is used in clothing, building and food products, as well as in the valuable oil. Ella McSweeney visits Ed as he struggles to harvest his hemp in West Wicklow, and follows the seeds to the processing plant where the CBD oil is extracted.

Spring Lambing

Around 4 million lambs will be delivered this coming spring as Ireland’s 34,000 sheep farmers prepare for their busiest time of the year. Darragh McCullough visits the Conway farm in East Galway as they lamb their prize-winning pedigree ewes. Liam Conway has been farming sheep all his life and his sons Shane and Eric are happy to lend a hand at this time of year. However, with over 90 percent of Irish lambs exported, many to the UK, the future of sheep farming in Ireland is in doubt.

Climate Conscious Farming


Ireland is falling far short of EU targets on Greenhouse Emissions. Undeniably, farming is a significant contributor to the problem. One young beef farmer and his partner believe that a tightly run ship and a willingness to try new things will make theirs a more environmentally friendly operation … and a more profitable one. Helen Carroll meets Sean Roddy in Kildare to discover how.