RTÉ - CountryWide Podcast

Tangle Net Fishing for Crayfish is sweeping up other critically endangered species as “by-catch”. How do we save Angel Sharks from extinction while preserving fishermen incomes and coastal communities? Marine Biologist, Dr Patrick Collins, QUB. Crayfish fisherman, Eddie Moore, NIFA. Angel Shark project leader, Louise Overy, MTU.

Families who have traditionally harvested seaweed from the foreshore fear that a new requirement to register before collecting will favour a multinational exporter over them. Lorna Siggins reports.

When a song about seaweed is actually about so much more.

What do farmers outside the mainstream make of the IFA / Bord Bia stand off, and how would they like to reinvent our food systems for the 21st century. Fergal Anderson, Co-Founder, Talamh Beo.

Lee Hunter has developed a way to tell the difference between live and dead oysters using sound.

Countrywide Full Episode 21/02/2026

A drop in the price of milk in the international markets threatens to cut average dairy farm incomes by €70,000 this year. Dairy Farmers Aoife Ladd, Liam Walshe and Dan Hanley. Paul Smyth from the ICMSA.

Only 10% of Irish milk is sold in Ireland. The rest is sold mostly as powdered milk in three quarters of the countries around the world. Suzanne Campbell reports on how that ingredient is used in everything from dry roasted peanuts to shampoo.

Regan Hutchins pays a visit to the museum that explores Irish history through a dairy lens.

Agri-economist Prof Alan Matthews on why efforts to reduce supply and increase the international price are unlikely to work.

Writer Dennis Ryan reads an excerpt from his memoir about the last day his father milked his cows.

Dan Hanley in Kildorrery nominates 1255 from his Holstein Friesian herd who has mastered pulling the hopper cord to feed herself and her herd mates.

Countrywide Full Episode 14/02/2026

Is the way we are farming partly responsible for flooding, and what changes might decrease damage in the future? Geomorphologist Prof Mary Bourke. Sligo Farmers Eddie Davitt and Joe Leonard. Farming For Water EIP, dairy farmer, Alan Poole. We also spoke to Orla Heffernan, a homeowner in Ballina who suffered a major flooding event in 2015.

Leading Jet Stream expert Dr Jennifer Francis explains how the fast-moving current that used to ensure changeable weather is increasingly getting stuck.

Rob Gardner, Natural Asset Investment manager argues nature-based flooding solutions give you more bang for your buck than traditional concrete and steel protection.

Countrywide Full Episode 07/02/2026

Ireland's farm machinery sector is an unsung economic dynamo, creating nearly as much wealth as the tourist industry and a value to the economy of almost €5bn. Simon Cross from Cross Agri-Engineering in Kildare; Michael Farrelly, CEO of the FTMTA.

An excerpt from Seamus's memoir Leaning On Gates about what “innovating” with tractors in the eighties.

40% of workplace fatalities happen on farms. Half of those involve machinery. Suzanne Campbell accompanies a HSA inspector doing a farm safety audit.

The 91-year old farmer from Westmeath still gets out on his Massey Ferguson 165 every day to do jobs around the yard.

In the 18th century, the father of the author Maria Edgeworth from Longford was the inventor of many agri-mechanical innovations still in use today.

Charles Hutchenson from Armstrong Machinery answers the question frequently asked by Countrywide's listeners.

Countrywide Full Episode 31/01/2026

As the price of a pint rises above €10 in some places, how much of that do barley growers get? David Walsh-Kemmis of Ballykilcavan Brewery, John Murphy, and Pat Crotty, Chair of Vintners Federation of Ireland discusses.

Austrian dairy cow Veronika has taught herself how to use a tool. The scientists who studied her say that bovine intelligence needs to be reappraised.

Owners of large vessels are going to court to have the ban overturned, meanwhile owners of small vessels support it. Lorna Siggins with Donegal trawlerman John Menarry. Dr Simon Berrow assesses if it will conserve fish stocks or not.

Beef and Tillage farmer John Keogh assesses how the trade deal will impact his business in Co Carlow

The former head of the Food Safety Authority, Prof Alan Reilly, on whether the inspection system can keep adulterated meat out of Europe.

Pat O'Toole, Political Editor of the Farmers Journal and RTÉ's Europe Editor, Tony Connelly, on the consequences of the trade deal.

With the pressure on farms to diversify, Suzanne Campbell reports from one farm business with everything from trees to saunas.

Della Kilroy reports on farmers Ned and Kate Sullivan who have fostered up to twenty children in as many years.

The third warmest year on record has caused many plants to bloom in the depths of winter according to the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.

Lorna Siggins reports from Greencastle Boatyard in Donegal on the restoration of a uniquely Irish-Scandi vessel.

With an explosion in the deer population and a steep rise in the price of beef, might venison represent better value for money. Featuring gamekeeper Adam Gornik, Pat Doyle from Wild Irish Game and butcher Keith Grant.

Suzanne Campbell talks to Chef Jess Murphy about how to popularise a meat that has often been seen as elite.

The outgoing director assesses the state of the Irish environment, our commitment to preserving it and the performance of the agency on her watch.

Regan Hutchins travels on a Local Link bus from Bantry to Skibbereen to see why the service is about more than just getting from A to B.

Robert and Valerie Hovendon came down with Bovine Viral Diarrhea in 2025. Patrick Donohue from Animal Health Ireland explains why theirs might be among the last herds to be impacted.

Michael Feely is the chair of a group called the Young Sheep Farmer Forum who last month made recommendations to government on how to best promote generational renewal. The forum of young farmers is facilitated by the Kepak Group.

Joined by Cheryl Poole, Wexford dairy farmer, Seamus Boland, CEO of Irish Rural Link, Magaret Donnelly, Editor of the Irish Farming Independent, and Fintan Kelly, environmental pillar's Agriculture and Land Use Policy Officer.

Reporter Ella McSweeney travels to Kerry and to a group of farmers tackling one of the hardy perennial issues – social isolation. This small group in and around Faranfore decided to do something to help their happiness: they agreed to meet in the Warehouse Cafe in Faranfore every Friday morning for breakfast.