Upland Voices - Launch of the ACRES Donegal Podcast

ACRES Donegal are delighted to launch our new podcast entitled ‘Upland Voices’. This is a collection of conversations with local Donegal farmers, biodiversity specialists and other organisations all involved in farming in the uplands of our beautiful Donegal hills.

There’s a story there that will speak to everyone. Conversations on farming in the past, what the future might hold, the animals and plant life on Donegal farms, the challenges we face for water quality, climate change and ensuring the farm survives to the next generation.

During 2025 our Farmer Engagement specialist, Aileen Collery, has captured wonderful conversations with you across the county. These have been expertly edited by Neil McGrory at MacRuari Audio Services and are now available on all podcast channels e.g. Spotify, Apple, YouTube etc. ACRES (Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme) is an action-based payment scheme built on a simple but powerful idea: the right action in the right place. Through this approach, it supports farmers to adjust their practices in ways that help tackle climate change, protect water, enhance biodiversity and promote truly sustainable food production. 

Episode 1 has now been released and in it Aileen speaks to Sean Cadden, Catherine Keena and Martin Gavin who share the history of upland farming in Ireland. Sean Cadden worked as a Teagasc Agricultural Advisor in West Mayo from 1964 for almost 40 years. He recently published a book entitled ‘Seventy Years in the Wild West – The Rise and Fall of Ireland’s Largest Sheep Farm’. His story of the history of hill farming provides a valuable insight which will add to the current conversation on our uplands.

Catherine Keena is the Countryside Management Specialist at Teagasc with particular focus on biodiversity on our farms and Martin Gavin is a fifth generation hill farmer.

Martin has been involved in the Freshwater Pearl Mussel EIP which as he says himself "opened his eyes to the plight of these fascinating creatures". Martin is an ACRES farmers.

https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/upland-voices-podcast

This podcast has been supported by funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and co-funded by the European Union. More information on the scheme can be found here https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/campaigns/agri-climate-rural-environment-scheme-acres/