Unsung heroes under the soil
Much of the scientific work being carried out at the Massey University led regenerative agriculture project, Whenua Haumanu, is below the ground.
This has led to a collaboration with Massey University. Some of the research on grassland management in Ireland is taking place at Teagasc’s research station at Athenry, Country Galway.
Peter Burke was recently there to look at developments.
Phil Creighton is no stranger to New Zealand: he’s worked on a farm here and has recently visited the country as scientist.
Like many young Irish students, Creighton spent six months in NZ doing work experience as part of his agricultural science degree through the University College of Dublin (UCD), the main agricultural university in Ireland. UCD students are encouraged to spend time in NZ ahead of all other countries because it is seen as a leading agricultural country with similar issues to Ireland.
Creighton comes from a sheep farm in the Wicklow area, in the east of Ireland. It is good sheep country by anyone’s standards. But when he arrived in NZ for his work experience, he was taken out of his comfort zone and ended up on a large dairy farm at Methven. He reckons there is no better place in the world to visit to find out about dairy farming. The scale of dairying and other farming operations in NZ were a sight to behold, he says.
“The big thing I took from it was the grassland management and the emphasis that is put on utilisation of grass; also the layout of the farms, races, water and fencing and keeping the system simple,” Creighton told Rural News.
“As well as working on the dairy farm I had the opportunity to look at other sectors including arable and sheep and, again, I was impressed by the scale. One farm I visited had 10,000 sheep and for me, coming from a country where the average sheep farm has about 100 animals, it was a sight in itself.”
Creighton says he was impressed by the good grassland management of NZ farms and the effort put on fencing and good paddock size.
As a result of what he saw in NZ, when he finished his ag science degree he went on to do a PhD in grassland management, which has led to his current role and a collaboration with Massey University.
Creighton says while there is a difference in the scale of sheep farming between Ireland and NZ, there are many similar issues, mainly because both countries run grass-based systems, which are much cheaper for farmers than using feed grown off-farm.
