Conservation and Science

When the opportunity to talk with John came up, I knew this was going to be a good conversation. A chance to discuss farming, habitat restoration, deer management and rural communities all in one episode. After the conversation, I thought it was even better than I expected. John has all those things really well thought through and it was a pleasure to hear his views articulated so clearly. John is also an entrepreneur and there is no hiding that his appearance was partly promotional. You know what? I'm all for promoting local, sustainable businesses, especially ones with a sound environmental foundation that clearly aim to reverse some negative societal trends. On top of that, they produce healthy food that benefits the farmers who grow it, not an army of middlemen in a supply chain.

This brings me to my second point, not discussed in the episode but something I thought about recently. I'm intrigued by the discussion about the EU-Mercosur trade deal. As some farmers noticed, folks representing the environmental movement (at least in Ireland) were surprisingly silent about it. Not only that, after apparently futile farmers' protests against the deal, some seem to even celebrate that 'farmers once again lost the argument'. But isn't the deal potentially terrible for the environment? As one farmer noted, this was a lost opportunity to build trust and connection between farming and environmental advocates. Something that we badly need. I made a few enquiries about this but was met with silence. Could it be that a portion of environmentalists are so focused on 'fighting' the farming lobby that they are completely blind to the bigger picture? Or am I missing something? I refuse to believe the former and I will investigate the latter and bring you the results so we can all be better informed.

Have you noticed that trend? Do you have a view or opinion about it? Reply to this email and let me know.

As for today, I'm leaving you with this episode. After you finish listening, check out the links to John's website.

Wild & Co on Venison, Native Woodland and Regenerative Farming

Podcast episode cover art for 'Conservation and Science' featuring a split image: on the left, a smiling bearded man in a black t-shirt against a white background; on the right, a brown and white belted cow grazing amongst lush green vegetation and shrubs. The episode title 'Wild & Co + Future Oak Farm' appears in gold and white text across the bottom of the images against an olive green background.

Can holistic grazing systems restore degraded hillsides and create profitable farms? How can local food systems and venison products revitalise struggling rural communities? Is it possible to farm with nature rather than against it and still make a living? These are the questions we explore in our conversation with John Duffy from Future Oak Farm, who returned to County Donegal after a career in oil and gas to transform his family's traditional sheep farm into a model of regenerative agriculture.

John left Donegal at 17 because he couldn't see a future in traditional farming. After 16 years working in civil engineering, mining and oil and gas exploration across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, he returned home following an industry downturn and his father's death. What brought him back wasn't nostalgia but a vision for a different kind of agriculture. Inspired by Allan Savory's holistic management and the predator-prey dynamics he'd seen in David Attenborough documentaries, John began experimenting with bunched livestock grazing that mimics natural herbivore behaviour. The results transformed not just the land but the economic viability of hill farming in one of Ireland's most challenging landscapes.

Our conversation covers habitat recovery, woodland regeneration, deer management and the creation of Wild & Co, John's venison product company that's building shorter supply chains and retaining more value in rural communities. We also discuss the fragility of long supply chains, the disconnect in Ireland's food system where 70% of consumed beef is imported despite producing enough to feed ourselves three times over and why John believes the innovation needed for Irish agriculture will come from the challenging farming conditions of the West of Ireland. John offers a practical vision for how farming can support both nature and thriving rural communities.