CountryWide

Countrywide Full Episode 16/05/2026

16 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 16/05/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CAP Reform

16 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The prospect of cuts in the Common Agriculture Policy budget has ignited a debate about what constitutes an active farmer and whether supports should ...

The Mayfly

16 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

“The fly is up!” a cry that means everything among anglers and one that is soon to be heard as the Mayfly season gets underway.  Fisheries scient...

Goat Soap

16 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What began with two pet goats has grown into an expanding goat’s milk soap business for Louise Bennett in County Westmeath.  Now managing a growing...

Restoring swans in Bray harbour

09 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Lorna Siggins reports on recent removal of a beach area in Bray Harbour in County Wicklow which has had a significant impact on local swans.See omnyst...

Hedge school

09 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Poet Pat Boran joined Philip to recite a delightful poem dedicated to birds.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Swallows and bees

09 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Suzanne Campbell reports on how a farmer in the midlands with a thriving organic oats business has made a determined effort to allow space for nature ...

Crunchy bog

09 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You know what walking on a bog should sound like but that's not what could be heard underfoot at Slieve Beagh following a wildfire last week. Ella McS...

An avian treat

09 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Author of The Book Of Birds, Robert McFarlane and Cork-based ornithologist and field recordist, Seán Ronayne collaborate to bring you the exquisite s...

Colm Gavin, Sheep Farmer

02 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip meets uplands farmer Colm Gavin for a walk on his sheep farm on the banks of the Killary Fjord. They discuss what really makes a geopark spec...

The Field

02 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip meets Susan Denny, owner of the field from the 1990 film ‘The Field’, only to find that a portion of iconic landscape has been washed away,...

More from the Geopark Festival

02 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Lorna Siggins meets local people attending the Geopark launch celebrations near the Owenriff River in Oughterard, including An Taisce Climate A...

The Whileaways

02 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Musical trio The Whileaways talk to Philip about making music in the landscape of the Geopark, and their hometown of Headford. Noriana Kennedy, ...

Geopark Launch

02 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Treasa Bhreathnach attends the celebrations at the launch of the newly UNESCO endorsed Geopark in Connemara, the Joyce Country and Western Lakes ...

Benjamin Thébaudeau, Geologist

02 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip meets the Geopark’s official geologist Benjamin Thébaudeau for a walk at the Pigeon Hole, the cave in Cong. They talk about the format...

Forest schools

25 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Regan Hutchens visits a forest school Easter Camp near Donadea forest in Kildare to meet Forest School Leader Lucy Bell of Growing Wild, and an enthus...

Forest songs

25 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Della Kilroy meets artists from a project called ‘Forest Songs’ — a collection of three love songs to the Dublin forests, written in collaborati...

Boyne Rivers Trust

25 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip visits members of the Boyne Rivers Trust who are planting trees on their river banks to provide shade and help keep temperatures down, thus pro...

Gary Patterson – Agroforestry

25 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Treasa Bhreathnach visits the farm of Gary Patterson in Granlahan in County Roscommon, where he has introduced trees into a little over half of the pa...

Sitka Book Row

25 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A book promoting the Sitka Spruce tree caused some controversy this week after it was distributed to primary schools. Philip visits St Patrick’s Nat...

Hybrid and electric tractors from China

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip talks to Rob McNaughton, from Zoomlion, about hybrid and electric tractors that will be coming on the market from China.See omnystudio.com/list...

Countrywide Full Episode 18/04/2026

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 18/04/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Impact of government's relief package on contractors

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip visits a farm with contractor Irvin Rothwell, who is spreading slurry near Ferrycarrig in Co Wexford to find out what impact the government's r...

An Feirm Ground

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

An Feirm Ground is a farming initiative that received a national recognition for its impact on rural wellbeing. The initiative works with agriculture ...

Fertiliser free farm

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Suzanne Campbell meets Brian Meredith and his father Keith, organic beef and tillage farmers in Co Laois, who have eliminated fossil fuel based, synth...

Carraroe Community Garden

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Last weekend, Lorna Siggins visited Carraroe Community Garden, where residents of the nearby IPAS centre joined locals, including members of the Men's...

Fendt battery tractor

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Fendt Salesman Philip Mattey in Northampton gives our Philip a virtual demonstration of a Fendt battery-powered tractor, which will be in showrooms in...

Should electric tractors be subsidised?

18 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

James Nix is an expert in the economics of heavy vehicles, working with the think tank Transport and Environment in Brussels.See omnystudio.com/listen...

Countrywide Full Episode 11/04/2026

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 11/04/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fuel Protests affect Animal Feed Supplies

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip is joined by Barry Larkin, CEO of the Acorn group of feed suppliers to discuss the impact the protests are having on their supply lines, includ...

Farmer potter collaboration

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Fermanagh farmer Roger Corrigan takes Philip around his farm in the middle of lambing season, explaining that the clay in some of his soil that is uns...

Minister of State Christopher O’Sullivan

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Minister O’Sullivan offers some follow-up information on the issue of tangle netting, highlighted on the programme back in February, as well as anal...

Fuel Protests – Update from Cork

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip is joined by Southern Correspondent with the Irish Independent Ralph Riegel for the latest update from the Whitegate Refinery under blockade in...

Fuel Protests – Farm Organisation Leaders

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip is joined by Francie Gorman, President of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) and Denis Drennan, President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers...

Countrywide Full Episode 04/04/2026

04 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 04/04/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Angling on the Deele

04 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Della Kilroy meets angler Damien Devine on the River Deele, a tributary of the Foyle, where he is teaching a group of young people how to fish as well...

The River Foyle and Farming on Reclaimed Land

04 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip meets geographer and author Liam Campbell at Derry’s Peace Bridge to talk about the history of the River Foyle and what it means to the city ...

Klondike by Neil Hegarty

04 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Writer Neil Hegarty reads an excerpt from his essay ‘Klondike’ which explores the watery geographies of the River Foyle. The essay appeared in a c...

Moville Pier

04 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Kathy Donaghy visits Moville Pier to find out about the history of emigration from that very point throughout the ages. With historian Seán Beattie a...

The Loughs Agency

04 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philip meets Dr Sarah McLean from The Loughs Agency, the body tasked with managing and protecting Lough Foyle, to talk about the significant wild nati...

Countrywide Full Episode 28/03/2026

28 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 28/03/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nature Restoration Plan

28 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Farmers and environmentalists have agreed an ambitious plan to restore nature. The only open question now is will government give it the funding it ne...

Lambing

28 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A sleepless time of year for sheep farmers, made easier on many farms by taking on students to help. UCD Ag Science students Aoife O’Brien and Sarah...

Cullahill Mountain

28 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Heritage Council runs a Heritage in Schools scheme giving pupils a chance to experience farm life. Della Kilroy went on Vincent O’Sullivan’s t...

Pond Life

28 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Regan Hutchins reports from a greenway outside Clonakilty Co Cork on how digging three ponds saved the local newt population from being trodden on or ...

Search and Rescue Dogs in Kerry

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Lorna Siggins attends a demonstration of the search and rescue dogs of the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team in Killarney.See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Horticulture

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Following the news of the collapse of carrot producers Hughes in Kilkenny last week, Philip talks to another horticulturalist, Kenneth Keavey of Green...

Impact of Energy Crisis on Farmers

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the current oil crisis, which the International Energy Agency this week called the ‘worst in history’, fluctuating prices on fuel and fertilise...

Mountain Meitheal

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Treasa Bhreathnach joined Mountain Meitheal West, in the Galway Clare area a few weeks ago, while they were out clearing hazel from the trails on the ...

Livestock Boat to Israel

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This week, an Israeli registered Livestock carrier left Ireland heading to Israel, with a large shipment of calves on board. But with the port of Haif...

Female Farmer Roundtable

14 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Should we even be using the term female farmer in 2026? Is it naive to not recognise that more women farmers fall by the wayside than men? How a femal...

Female Farrier

14 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Women are very visible throughout the bloodstock and racing industries, except in on role. There are only four female farriers in the country. Suzanne...

Female Farm Ambassador

14 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Agriculture minister, Martin Heydon, announced Carina Roseingrave as Ireland’s Female Farming Ambassador for the International Year Of The Woman Far...

TB – Learning from others

14 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Unlike Ireland New Zealand has nearly entirely eradicated Bovine TB. Kiwi veterinary epidemiologist, Dallas New, visited Ireland recently. Back at hom...

Countrywide Full Episode 07/03/2026

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 07/03/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thinking like a Mountain

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Professor John Feehan, Geologist and Botanist, argues that the rewetting of bogs may prove to be a major missed opportunity for nature, and that we ne...

Up in Smoke?

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

26 years ago, a team of archaeologists followed in the wake of Bord Na Mona’s peat harvesting machinery to rescue artefacts revealed by the milling....

Artists and our Wetlands

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Della Kilroy meets artist Annie Holland on Abbeyleix Bog to hear about her work which is inspired by the landscape there. Annie is one of 19 artists i...

Carbury Bog

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

At Carbury bog in Kildare, a local community group has cracked the problem of simultaneously protecting nature while allowing people who can’t affor...

Rain Essay

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Janet Heeran in Cork on the many days of rain this year. Featuring the track ‘Light Rain Blues’ by Sam Amidon. (For copyright reasons the full tra...

Lemanaghan Bog

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Lemanaghan Bog in Offaly, or Manchán’s bog, has been earmarked by Bord Na Mona and SSE Renewables as a site for turbines. Locals like Ciara Egan wo...

Lazy Beds

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Farming in peaty soils is challenging. But not so for horticulture. In Connemara Aongus O’Coistealbha has embraced the Lazy Beds growing system deve...

Fermanagh Farmwalk

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Creative Ireland has fostered collaborations between artists and farmers to better explain farming to the public. Della Kilroy visited farmer Barry Co...

Countrywide Full Episode 28/02/2026

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 28/02/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Signs of Spring

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Three experts in their field on the signs that spring has or hasn’t sprung. Aine O’Donoghue, Irish Peatland Conservation Council on frogs and frog...

Grass Growth

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

One of the surest signs of spring is the moment when the soil gets above 5 degrees in temperature and grass starts growing. Suzanne Campbell visited T...

Beating TB

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

An opinion poll of farmers shows they are prepared to go much further than farm leaders or politicians in trying to eradicate bovine tuberculosis. Lia...

A live A live O

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Lee Hunter has developed a way to tell the difference between live and dead oysters using sound.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bord Bia Row

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What do farmers outside the mainstream make of the IFA / Bord Bia stand off, and how would they like to reinvent our food systems for the 21st century...

Dúlamán

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

When a song about seaweed is actually about so much more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tangle Net Fishing

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Tangle Net Fishing for Crayfish is sweeping up other critically endangered species as “by-catch”. How do we save Angel Sharks from extinction whil...

Seaweed Rights

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Families who have traditionally harvested seaweed from the foreshore fear that a new requirement to register before collecting will favour a multinati...

Countrywide Full Episode 21/02/2026

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 21/02/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Countrywide Full Episode 14/02/2026

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 14/02/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Irish dairy farmers more exposed than most

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Agri-economist Prof Alan Matthews on why efforts to reduce supply and increase the international price are unlikely to work.See omnystudio.com/listene...

Milk Price Collapse

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A drop in the price of milk in the international markets threatens to cut average dairy farm incomes by €70,000 this year. Dairy Farmers Aoife Ladd,...

Cork Butter Museum

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Regan Hutchins pays a visit to the museum that explores Irish history through a dairy lens.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dairy Gothic

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Writer Dennis Ryan reads an excerpt from his memoir about the last day his father milked his cows.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Powdered Milk

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Only 10% of Irish milk is sold in Ireland. The rest is sold mostly as powdered milk in three quarters of the countries around the world. Suzanne Campb...

Ireland’s Brainiest Bovine

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Dan Hanley in Kildorrery nominates 1255 from his Holstein Friesian herd who has mastered pulling the hopper cord to feed herself and her herd mates.Se...

Flood Prevention

07 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Is the way we are farming partly responsible for flooding, and what changes might decrease damage in the future? Geomorphologist Prof Mary Bourke. Sli...

Countrywide Full Episode 07/02/2026

07 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 07/02/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Financing nature-based flood relief

07 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Rob Gardner, Natural Asset Investment manager argues nature-based flooding solutions give you more bang for your buck than traditional concrete and st...

The Jet Stream is stuck

07 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Leading Jet Stream expert Dr Jennifer Francis explains how the fast-moving current that used to ensure changeable weather is increasingly getting stuc...

Countrywide Full Episode 31/01/2026

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Countrywide Full Episode 31/01/2026See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Farm Machinery Sector

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ireland’s farm machinery sector is an unsung economic dynamo, creating nearly as much wealth as the tourist industry and a value to the economy of a...

Seamus O’Rourke: Leaning On Gates

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

An excerpt from Seamus’s memoir Leaning On Gates about what “innovating” with tractors in the eighties.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

Tractor collector Kieran Geoghegan

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The 91-year old farmer from Westmeath still gets out on his Massey Ferguson 165 every day to do jobs around the yard.See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

Safety around farm machinery

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

40% of workplace fatalities happen on farms. Half of those involve machinery. Suzanne Campbell accompanies a HSA inspector doing a farm safety audit.S...

Why are modern tractors so big?

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Charles Hutchenson from Armstrong Machinery answers the question frequently asked by Countrywide’s listeners.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Richard Lovell Edgeworth

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the 18th century, the father of the author Maria Edgeworth from Longford was the inventor of many agri-mechanical innovations still in use today.Se...

Price of a pint

24 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

As the price of a pint rises above €10 in some places, how much of that do barley growers get? David Walsh-Kemmis, Ballykilcavan Brewery discusses.S...

Inshore trawling ban

24 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Owners of large vessels are going to court to have the ban overturned, meanwhile owners of small vessels support it. Lorna Siggins with Donegal trawle...

Not so stupid cows

24 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Austrian dairy cow Veronika has taught herself how to use a tool. The scientists who studied her say that bovine intelligence needs to be reappraised....

Mercosur political impact

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Pat O’Toole, Political Editor of the Farmers Journal and RTÉ’s Europe Editor, Tony Connelly, on the consequences of the trade deal.See omnystudio...

Mercosur Protest

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Beef and Tillage farmer John Keogh assesses how the trade deal will impact his business in Co CarlowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...

Mercosur public health fears

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The former head of the Food Safety Authority, Prof Alan Reilly, on whether the inspection system can keep adulterated meat out of Europe.See omnystudi...

Fostering the future

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Della Kilroy reports on farmers Ned and Kate Sullivan who have fostered up to twenty children in as many years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Mad Yolk Farm

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

With the pressure on farms to diversify, Suzanne Campbell reports from one farm business with everything from trees to saunas.See omnystudio.com/liste...

Boat building

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Lorna Siggins reports from Greencastle Boatyard in Donegal on the restoration of a uniquely Irish-Scandi vessel.See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...