‘We wanted the farm to be biodiverse so we stopped putting all our eggs in one basket’
Veterinary surgeon Ciara Kinsella has turned the family sheep farm in Crossabeg, Co Wexford into a biodiverse and innovative farm. On Tykillen Farm’s 65 acres, she has planted 15 acres, with the rest used for grass for her horses and sheep.
Her 110 ewes are 100pc grass-fed apart from the period leading up to lambing when she feeds them meal. With the lambing season just finished, all sheep and lambs have been put out to grass.
Ciara has just dosed all her ewes for Nematodirus and she foot-bathed them last week.
While the majority will go to the factory in June, she will keep some for replacement ewes.
At the moment the sheep have to be checked a couple of times each day as she says tetany is common at this time of year.
Covid-19 has seen the farm take a hit in recent weeks.
“Lamb prices had gone down by €1/kg, but they have gone up again within the last 10 days,” Ciara says.
The farm was established in the 1980s when her parents moved down from Dublin, and after studying veterinary in UCD, Ciara moved home and set up a farm partnership with her mother Frances.
“We made the decision to diversify the farm a few years ago. We wanted the farm to be biodiverse and fulfill its full potential so we stopped putting all our eggs in one basket,” says Ciara, who still works part-time as a vet.
They decided to add some new aspects to the farm, including bee-keeping and honey production, which her husband Liam’s family have been involved in for many years.
“The bees are starting to make honey in their hives and Liam puts a honey super on these,” Ciara says. “Honey supers are like large boxes where the bees go to leave their honey. When they’re full we collect the honey.
“The bees have to be checked on weekly to ensure that they are not swarming or making a new queen, which would result in many bees leaving the hive.”
Ciara and her mother are also in the process of setting up a honeyroom to harvest the honey, with plans to start making their own honey products in August.
They have eight hives on the farm, with plans to increase to 40 over the coming years as they grow the business. Each hive, she says, produces 15-20kg of honey over the year, mainly in the summer months, which will make around 100 jars.
“This spring has been fantastic for the bees, you can see the honey already in the super,” she says. “We’re adding on supers to the hives on a weekly basis, they are producing so much at the moment.”
They planted a hectare of wild bird cover which includes wildflowers and corn.
“We made the wildflower meadow as it’s ideal for our bees and we have over-sown clover into the grass to produce more nitrogen,” Ciara says.
Biodiversity:
Ciara Kinsella on Tykillen farm near Crossabeg, Co Wexford; below, Ciara with her husband Liam, mother Frances and children Cathal (3) and Tadhg (1)
“At this time of year there is a lot of sycamore, dandelion and wild cherry, which the bees love. They are a great source of nectar and the dandelion is very easy for them to access the nectar.
“A lot of the wild cherries were on the farm and we’re planting whitethorn and blackthorn and they will be blossoming in the coming weeks.
“The wildflower meadow will be the later-summer source of nectar. The bees can fly 5km for nectar, and there are tillage farmers with rape, which is great too.
“We are absolutely thrilled with the honey. Our honey has hints of our farm’s clover, blackberry, gorse, wildflower meadow and tree blossoms.”
Ciara also planted 15 acres of forestry, a mixture of hardwood and softwood trees.
“We had some marginal land which wasn’t the best but we wanted to make good use of it. Forestry is great for biodiversity reasons and creates a home for lots of wildlife,” she says.
“My aim is to have the farm carbonneutral whereby the methane from our lambs would be offset by the carbons produced by our trees.
“We aren’t far away from that stage.”
‘Our honey has hints of our farm’s clover, blackberry, gorse, wildflower meadow and tree blossoms’