Farming for Water willow bed project in Castleisland is “a no brainer”

The Farming for Water Project is a new European Innovation Partnership Project (EIP-AGRI) project led by the Local Authority Water Programme’s (LAWPRO) in partnership with Teagasc and Dairy Industry Ireland and is funding an innovative willow bed on the land of Mike and Bernie O’Sullivan, Cordal, Castleisland, Co. Kerry. A willow bed is an area of densely planted willow trees, and this nature-based solution will help slow the flow of water, allow sediment to settle and prevent any dissolved nutrients from ending up in the surrounding water courses, primarily the River Maine, a Priority Area for Action identified in the second cycle River Basin Management Plan.

This measure is just one of the 41 identified by the Farming for Water EIP which was launched by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, TD; Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage with special responsibility for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD; and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Land Use and Biodiversity, Senator Pippa Hackett. in March and which is charged with engaging with up to 15,000 farmers nationwide initially in the priority areas identified in the second cycle and forthcoming third cycle of the River Basin Management Plan.  The project is directly funded through the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 and Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has allocated a budget of €50 million over five years which will support up to 15,000 farmers to put in place measures to improve water quality. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) are funding the administrative and operational costs of this Water EIP with €10 million allocated over 5 years.

Mike and Bernie are milking 135 cows on the family farm and Mike, having engaged with Kerry Agri Business Sustainability Advisers Terry O’Mahony and Caolfhionn Dodd explored the Farming for Water EIP concept and decided to introduce additional measures to help make his farm even more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

The willow whips are very easy to manage.

“Protecting water quality is very important and even just for peace of mind for us when the inspectors are coming, it is good to have everything in order. This is a great project and the key to it is that the funding is right. You have to have the funding in place, and I must say it has been a very straight forward process for us because the advisors have been so pro-active,” Mike said.

The first step on the journey for Mike in conjunction with the advisors was to devise a Rainwater Management Plan. This innovative assessment. A rainwater management plan is a whole farm assessment identifying areas on the farm where water flows both within the farmyard & the land area. This assessment is critical to establish and pinpoint the most suitable location for mitigation measures. After that the measures to be introduced were identified in conjunction with the farmer and the result has been the introduction of a number of initiatives including holding off on slurry and chemical spreading until April in critical source areas; roadway run-off management and sediment traps; the introduction of solar pumps in an out-farm; and the planting of 16 acres of multi-species in accordance with recommendations from the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine.

“I see this as a huge opportunity to put our property in order for our children coming along after us. I feel it is a very good initiative and I have learned a lot from it. The aim is that other farmers will be able to come to my farm, observe the work and follow suit on their own farms. It is a no brainer really,” said Mike whose daughter Clodagh  and son Sean both work in agricultural fields also.

Construction of the willow bed has taken less than two days in total. The bed which measures 100 x 4 metres was dig out by an excavator with the topsoil re-used, and the subsoil drawn away to another part of the farm. The 1050 willow plants were then sown in six rows at 0.7 metres between the rows and 50cm between each stem, along the length of the bed and these will need to be cut back after a year. However, they will be harvested every third year thereafter, but if Mike decides to use the willow for firewood, the cycle will be seven years. The stems which were 8 inches long, were sown 2-3 inches above the ground.

The willow bed under construction and right, the silt trap prior to planting.

The Farming for Water Project Team state “Willow beds are a nature-based solution that contribute positively to the challenges that lie ahead. They help improve water quality, provide renewable energy production, enhance biodiversity, and help mitigate against climate change impacts through carbon sequestration and can help increase resilience to flooding”. We will be monitoring the effectiveness of this measure throughout the life cycle of the project through our Research Hub”

“Mike can decide what to use the willow for, but there is the option of cutting it back after a year, mulching it and then using it as bedding for the cattle. Or he can get into the seven-year cycle and use it for firewood if he prefers. He has options,” said Terry who explained that the willow bed will be fenced off from livestock, even though the willow is in no way harmful to the animals. Willow beds were constructed under the watchful eye of Féidhlim Harty of FH Wetland systems Ltd, based in Clare, who did the original design for the willow bed and was on hand to give additional guidance on construction.

All the water from the clean concreted areas of the farm will be directed through a sediment trap towards the willow bed which allows for the settlement and polishing of water. The willow beds help to slow the flow of water, allow sediment to settle out and any traces of dissolved nutrients to be taken up by the growing vegetation and through evapotranspiration of the growing willows.  In Ireland water shortage will seldom be a limiting factor for willow growth and calculations indicate that a growing season annual precipitation level of 550-600mm is required for optimum growth. Willow’s high-water uptake makes it a very suitable crop for sustainable water management, and it can help reduce fine sediment run-off.

Planting underway

“We have about fifty dairy farmers in the Castleisland area who are signing up for the Farming for Water project with the view to introducing different measures. We now have this example of a willow bed to showcase, and we have the expertise locally to demonstrate how the work should be done. I would certainly encourage others to do the same because improving water quality is key to retaining derogation as well as everything else,” Terry said.

Planting of the willow took approximately one hour to complete with three planters working on it while the excavation work took a day and a half. But the impact the willow bed will make on the farm into the future will be enormous.

“It will be a real feature on our farm. It will be great to see it growing and having an impact on the landscape as well as on the land itself. I can see nothing but benefit from having introduced this measure. Nobody made me do it – it was a voluntary action but the fact that it is funded makes it very attractive,” Mike said.

The willow whips will grow to up to 8′ in the first year. Right: Terry O’Mahony, Kerry Agri Business Sustainability Advisor; Mike O’Sullivan; Bernie O’Sullivan; Caoilfhionn Dodd, Kerry Agri Business Sustainability Advisor, pictured after the job had been completed.