Gerard Deegan - Organic Beef Farmer

Back in 2012, there were a lot of issues and a certain amount of health issues going on. I was 55 at the time. Suddenly, I realised life is passing by very quickly. I have no successor. What am I going to do if I can't milk tomorrow or the next day or in a year's time? Where am I going? Who's going to take care of me? The options then really were either to sell the place or go into forestry. And I really had a grá for wood and timber and growing trees. I wasn't giving up the ghost at that age. I was still looking for another 20 years, I would think, or more. So having the forest here, I can still go out and look after the trees and be active.

The benefits of adding forestry to my farm are numerous. Start with nature, the environment, ecology, the amount of carbon sequestration that goes on, the amount of carbon cycling that goes on, the more water purification, all the things that we need to survive and live, the benefits for me, my health, physically and mentally, for the community around me. I do some social farming here. It's an integral part of my day working with them and for the wider community. There are many people who come on walks, do different tours around the forest, and on top of that it provides a secure income for me for the future.

Actually, the challenges weren't too bad. I met with my Teagasc adviser first, and he gave me great advice on where to go, and he put me in touch with different foresters, one of whom I took on afterwards, and he was a gem. He looked after all the paperwork, all the applications that would have done my head in. I was saved all that hassle. He was also a brilliant man, someone who actually listened to my ideas, told me what would work, and what wouldn't. And we came up with a plan that was very diverse, which was what I really wanted at the end of the day. So that side of things, I started off very good. Then I had 20% of the forest in ash, and I got hit with the ash dieback, and that was a nightmare. It was over four years before I got closure on that before I could start replanting. As soon as I got to go ahead under the Reconstitution Scheme that was some weight off my shoulders. I wanted to diversify, so I came back in with oak, beech, sycamore, a little bit of sweet chestnut, and a bit of birch. So, it's all spread through it. This builds diversity, it builds resilience to fight against disease and pests.

I'm a pro silvopasture man, a continuous cover forester. It’s crucial in that system that you get in early, little, and often. You're constantly monitoring what's going on, constantly enhancing the forest that you have. Disease is a challenge and will be a challenge. So, no one should be under an illusion that it's a golden egg. It's like any other farming enterprise, but there's an opportunity to generate a good income at the end of the day; but you have to work at it.

I see forestry supporting the farm long term. I think it's a crucial part of the whole cycle. It's all interconnected. I'm into regenerative grazing as well. So, it's a crucial part of the whole farming scheme. Here we're looking after nature. It all starts underneath the ground with the biology in the soil. We start with the bacteria and the fungi. They're the guys who will actually start to work and help feed the plant, whether it be the tree or the grass. I need nature to be functioning at its optimum. So all the insects, the birds hatch out here, and they hop over the hedge. You'll see them in scratching the cow pads. And the more life I see out there, the more birds, the more species I see in there, the healthier I know my soil is going to be. The healthier the soil, the healthier the plant. The healthier the plant, the healthier the animal. The healthier the animal and plant, the healthier you and I are going to be.

If there's anybody out there thinking of forestry, I’d definitely say go ahead. If they have an interest, there's a seed already in their head. Will it work, or will it not work? You have to give some corner, whether it be an acre, two acres, whatever you want. But the benefits of that to the rest of your enterprise are unreal. We have to get away from synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, and fungicides. Nature will look after it. We've been robbed left, right, and centre with all the inputs we're using. For what? For production. Production has gone through the roof in my lifetime. Where has income gone? A straight line. It's time that we took back control of our own lives and put money in our own pockets and not for the big companies, not be feeding the multinationals, the big corporate groups. Forestry is a crucial part of that.