Farm Profile Thomas John Earley

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Tommy Earley's Farm

EIP Soil Biodiversity Project Participant

Farmer:

Tommy Earley

Location:

Drumshanbo, Co Roscommon

Water Catchment Area:

Upper Shannon

Land Use:

Suckler Cows, Forestry, Woodlands, Beehives

Tommy Earley's Farm

Tommy farms a hundred acres of inherited land on the shores of Lough Allen in North County Roscommon. He has been farming organically on the site since 1996. Tommy farms organic Aberdeen angus suckler cows, has 25 acres of forestry, additional natural woodlands, beehives, 25 acres of raised bog and meitheal allotments (horticultural developments).

He is involved in many projects including the conservation of Red Data species of flora and fauna, habitat management and sharing with visitors the opportunity to enjoy this rich habitat.

Tommy operates Mountallen Eco Tours, offering visitors a unique opportunity to gain access to a part of the country that has been virtually undisturbed on the shores of Lough Allen, just 5 minutes from Drumshanbo and 15 minutes from Carrick-on-Shannon.

He offers a number of walks, with the option of focusing on local ecology, biodiversity, local history or farm management/maintenance itself, all personally guided and explained. He also offers a number of workshops including Moth Trapping, Conducting Butterfly Transects, Hedge Coppicing, Composting, and many more.

To hear more about Tommy’s farm, you can watch an interview with Tommy here.

Tommy introduces himself, his farm and his interest in the soil biodiversity project in this short clip.

You can also connect with Tommy on his social platforms:

I am involved in many projects including conservation of Red Data species of flora and fauna, habitat management and sharing with visitors opportunity to enjoy this unique environment.

EIP Soil Diversity Project

Tommy’s farm at Drumshanbo includes raised bog, species rich acidic soil, semi improved grassland, wildflower meadow, lake shore, woodland and river. Through his participation in the EIP Soil Diversity Project, Tommy has trialled and documented a range of technical innovations (such as bioNutrient meters) and physical innovations – specifically, Tommy has concentrated on improving the fertility of the clay soil in a horticulture field, using hay mulch and cover crops.

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

Tommy’s farm walk took place on the 19th of June, 2022, and focused on rewetting bogs, his ponds & lakeshore, the oak forest, organic beef and vegetable growing. A video summary of Tommy’s farm walk can be viewed below.

You can check out Tommy’s course certificate and find out more about his trial plot, experiment and baseline soil test results in his project report.

Project Report

Farm Walk

Tommy's Farm Walk

Join Tommy on his farm walk on the shores of Lough Allen in County Roscommon. We found out about rewetting bogs, his ponds & lakeshore, the oak forest, organic beef and vegetable growing.

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.