Farm Profile Sinead Moran

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Gleann Buí Farm

EIP Soil Biodiversity Project Participant

Farmer:

Sinead Moran

Location:

Aghamore, Co Mayo

Water Catchment Area:

Moy and Killala Bay

Land Use:

Dairy, Cattle, Chickens, Grazing

Gleann Buí Farm

Sinead & MJ’s 40 acre farm is located in Aghamore, County Mayo and is an organic, Pasture for Life, micro dairy farm.

Whilst the farm had been extensively managed for generations, the Sinead & MJ made the decision to convert to organic in 2019 and haven’t looked back since. They are working hard to conserve the species rich, high nature value grassland and hedgerows that exist on their land.

Gleann Buí sell raw dairy produce direct to the local community and to small independent grocers. Their aim is to farm within the natural limits of their farm using regenerative practices and holistic principles. We’re all about working within the natural limits of farm. Working this way means when growth stops so does the dairy! They don’t feed any imported grain, soya or ‘meal’ and instead operate a closed looped, circular system that means the cows, when working with seasons & managed in a particular way, get everything they need from pasture. An organic, pasture only fed cow is a healthier cow, and in turn this produces healthy full milk for their customers.

To hear more about the move to organic farming, check out the Farm Tour section below.

Sinead introduces herself, her farm and her interest in the soil biodiversity project in this short clip.

You can also connect with Sinead’s farm on social platforms

Our aim is to farm within the natural limits of our farm using regenerative practices and holistic principles. Be the change you want to see in the world!

EIP Soil Diversity Project

Sinead & MJ’s farm at Aghamore, Co Mayo consists of mixed soil that is overall well drained, shallow sandy soil. In some areas there is deep soil which can get wet & water logged in winter.

Through her participation in the EIP Soil Diversity Project, Sinead has trialled and documented a range of technical innovations (such as bioNutrient meters) and physical innovations (e.g. soil biological activators, mineral amendments, biochar, green manure, compost, compost teas, inoculants etc). Sinead chose to concentrate on healthy, diverse, organic fields to feed their micro-dairy cows.

Sinead’s progress through Dr Elaine Ingham’s Launch Your Lab (LYL) educational course and the results of her farm trials have been recorded in her farm’s project report below. At the end of the course, Sinead will be trained and certified to look at soil microbes. This will enable her to carry out analysis for not only her own farm, but other individuals, farms and agri-businesses who can benefit from knowing what their soil needs to boost yields.

Sinead held a specialised project event on 10th August, 2022, where she filmed a piece with Agri Insider, exploring the relationship between soil biodiversity, healthy plants & animals, and milk.

You can find out more about Sinead’s trial plot, experiment and baseline soil test results in their project report.

Project Report

Going Organic

Gleann Buí Farm Tour

Join Sinead's partner MJ as he takes us on a tour of their farm in County Mayo, and find out about their move away from meal fed cattle to exclusively grass fed cattle, the reasoning behind the change, and resulting benefits of going organic on Gleann Buí Farm.

The latest news from the EIP Soil Biodiversity Project

Project Participants

Find out more about our project participants and their farms. Follow their journey, see their results and learn how they benefitted from their EIP Soil Biodiversity Project participation.