NEWS

Downpatrick farm wins environmental award
By Staff Reporter

THE Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) has announced that Oakley Farm, belonging to Edward Carson, Ballynoe, Downpatrick, has been named as the Northern Ireland winner in this year’s FWAG Silver Lapwing Competition.

Edward, along with his family, farms 344 hectares in the townland. The farm was former parkland and still retains some of its old features including walled garden, stone wall boundary and outhouses.

Edward has gone to great lengths to reinstate the farm’s built heritage and to enhance the environmental assets including waterways, hedgerows, mature trees and wildlife. The farm consists of a beef herd including sucklers, a pig unit, cereals and 14 hectares of woodland.

The farm has won a previous farm environmental award in 1992 and the owner has endeavoured to retain priority species on the farm. Use of clovers, manures and own feed sources, including sugar beet, are an essential component of the farming system.

The Silver Lapwing Award for 2009 was presented to Mr Carson by Michelle Gildernew, the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development. She said: “It is a great achievement for any farmer to receive recognition from FWAG for integrating environmental best practice into a commercial farm business."

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