Donal O’Keeffe champions sustainable tillage farming
Donal O’Keeffe of Graftonstown combines food production with environmental care on his family tillage farm. His thoughtful practices, shared in a video series, highlight innovative steps to safeguard water quality in Westmeath’s agricultural landscape.
Farming in Graftonstown, Co. Westmeath, Donal O’Keeffe operates a primarily tillage-based system, convinced that producing food and protecting water resources can coexist harmoniously.
“I’m only here for a short while in the great scheme of things and my job is to produce as much food as I can in an environmentally friendly manner and to leave it in a better situation that I ever got it,” Donal reflected in an episode of the From the Fields to the Boyne video series, skillfully filmed and edited by Matthew Walker.
Committed to responsible food production
Together with his wife Dorothy and their sons Conor and Shane, Donal cultivates crops including beans, barley, wheat, oats, and oilseed rape. He emphasises the vital role farmers play as food producers, constantly mindful of the responsibility this entails.
Reflecting on agricultural shifts since the 1970s, Donal detailed various water protection practices introduced on the family farm. These include:
- Installation of buffer strips alongside waterways
- Precise headland control on fertiliser spreading
- Rainwater harvesting systems
- Implementation of catch crops to minimise soil exposure