Tipperary Farmer Sean O’Farrell has a mixed farm, and grows lots of fruit and vegetables. In this short video, Sean discusses the mutual benefits of allowing his hedgerows to flower on his farm - i.e. the benefits to wildlife, but more importantly the benefits to his produce and business.
If Sean didn’t have flowering hedgerows on his farmland, there would be less food for the local bees early in the season, so less pollinating insects would survive on his farm, meaning less produce for him. Simply put, he provides habitat and food for the pollinators by allowing his hedgerows to flower, and they return the favour by pollinating his crops during the summer months.
In spring, Bees and other pollinators need to feed on the pollen and nectar produced by the hedgerow’s wild flowering plants, such as the Maybush or Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Willow and dandelions.
In late summer and autumn, the hedgerow’s Bramble and Ivy provide vital food for queen Bumblebees that must fatten up to hibernate over winter.
To find out how you can manage hedgerows for pollinating insects, and download the Farmland guidelines ‘Farmland: Actions to help Pollinators’, please visit pollinators.ie
This video was produced with funding from the Heritage Office, Tipperary County Council, and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Filmed by Peter Cutler, crowcragproductions.com