skip to main content

EAR TO THE GROUND

Image Name: Description: Sean Torpey with Limerick All-Ireland winner Seán Finn - Ear to the Ground. Series 28_TX16
John Torpey in his Ash forest - Ear To The Ground 28_TX16_Bambu 03 Image Name: John Torpey in his Ash forest - Ear To The Ground 28_TX16_Bambu 03 Description: John Torpey in his Ash forest.
Sean Torpey with Limerick All-Ireland winner Seán Finn - Ear to the Ground. Series 28_TX16 Image Name: Sean Torpey with Limerick All-Ireland winner Seán Finn - Ear to the Ground. Series 28_TX16 Description: Sean Torpey with Limerick All-Ireland winner Seán Finn - Ear to the Ground. Series 28_TX16

Ear to the Ground Series 28, Programme 16

Calving
Over a million and a half dairy calves will be born this Spring. While the national herd has doubled in the last number of years, small is still beautiful for some young farmers getting into the dairy sector. Darragh
McCullough visits James Wilson in Westmeath, a young dairy farmer with a small scale operation. James is expanding his herd gradually, without the burden of debt and the pressures that go with it.
Billing: .


Nitrogen
Farmers are often looking for different ways to improve the health of their soil and increase productivity. Ella McSweeney meets a tillage farmer in Kildare who has been moving away from using nitrogen since noticing a lack of worms in his soil. Norman Dunne and his father are tackling the problem head on by reducing their dependency on Nitrogen to grow crops, and have since reported a tenfold increase in biodiversity.


Bambú Hurleys
The Torpey family from Sixmilebridge in Co. Clare have been making hurleys for over 40 years. Originally a beef and dairy farmer, John planted over 20,000 ash trees almost two decades ago – most of which he’s since lost to Ash dieback. Determined to source an alternative material for their hurleys, son Sean teamed up with Loughborough University in England to create an entirely new type of hurley made from bamboo. All-Ireland winning hurler Seán Finn demonstrated the bamboo hurley at Torpey’s facility during a visit from Ear to the Ground.
Billing: Ear to the Ground joins Limerick hurler Seán Finn at Torpey’s in Co. Clare to test out their bamboo hurleys.