A Progressive Family Farm in Tipperary

Not far from Fethard in Co Tipperary, the Rice Family Farm is home to Fintan, Valerie and their three children, Jennifer, Laura and Louis. The farm enjoys views of the Tipperary countryside and has the added charm of the River Bawnog running through the land. The Bawnog is a tributary of the Anner, in turn a tributary of the River Suir.
While their children were very young, Fintan and Valerie had begun to grow their own vegetables, mindful of issues around food quality and safety. It was this, combined with the desire to protect the environment that led them to organic conversion in the mid 1990s.
“At the time, it was a leap of faith as there was no market for organic milk when we began the conversion process. But we felt it was the right thing to do, regardless”, says Fintan. “Fortunately, by the time we were fully certified, Glenisk was ready to take our milk so we never had to sell it into the conventional pool.” Fintan and Valerie work as a team on the farm to ensure the myriad of jobs get done. They share milking duties; with a herd just shy of 70 cows, they milk twice a day, a job which takes more than three hours to complete, yielding close to 1200 litres of fresh, organic milk each day. And it is Valerie who is responsible for the very important job of calf rearing - "Freckles", pictured below with Fintan is one of the newest arrivals.

Planting Trees for Future Generations

The farm occupies 175 acres in total; 100 acres is verdant grassland while a further 75 are given over to forestry. Committed to forestry for the environment, Fintan Rice has planted an impressive 200,000 trees in the past eight years, in an array of varieties including Ash, Oak, Beech and Sycamore. “I won’t live long enough to see them mature”, Fintan laughs, “but maybe our children and their children can enjoy them.”

A labour of love

Fintan also went to considerable trouble to replace all of the farm’s hedgerows which had been removed decades earlier. It was a labour of love, taking many months to complete, but the rewards are evident, not least because of the way in which they contribute to the beauty of the rural landscape and the promotion of biodiversity on the farm.
Fintan is the third generation of the Rice family to farm the land, and his father who lives next door continues to help out on the farm from time to time. The farm has recently undergone a carbon footprint audit, which showed impressive results. So what’s next for one of Ireland’s most progressive farmers? “I am thinking about introducing a wind turbine onto the farm so that we can produce our own renewable energy”, says Fintan. “It makes sense for us and it makes sense for the environment.”