Episode 40
Country Life with MJ Clery
Thursday, 5 October 2023 - 45 minutes
Deer take centre stage this week on the programme as MJ chats to Ger O Brien from the Irish Wild Deer Society on recent proposals that would see licensed hunters being paid to shoot female deer at a certain time of the year. Deer numbers are growing year on year and part of the problem is the huge amount of money that forestry owners including Coillte are charging hunters to shoot on their lands. Adam Woods from the Irish Farmers Journal gives all the details on the upcoming deadlines for SCEP and the NBWS. With National Potato Day just around the corner, Mike Neary from Bord Bia chats about the most widely eaten vegetable in the country featuring on 98% of dinner tables over the course of a given year. Martin Coughlan from the Farming Independent chats about the beef and sheep trade. He speaks about how the appetite for sheep farming is weaning and how the sector is in real trouble with a shortage of younger farmers showing interest. Michael McEvoy from the Laois Farm Forestry Producers Group speaks about a new report on Ash Dieback and how affected farmers need real and meaningful compensation immediately in order to instil confidence into the forestry sector.
