Freshwater Pearl Mussel Ireland

Not much rest for PMP catchment officer Mary McAndrew this time of year, it being the lambing season. As Mary says “Farming can be a difficult occupation but one of the things I love is that every day is so varied ... you end up doing so many different things each day”.

“I went home for Easter to ‘rest’ ... or at least that was the plan! My dad and brothers sheep and suckler farm is on Belmullet. We have a mixture of  sheep breeds on the farm, from my brothers pure bred Suffolk flock, purebred Texels, crossbred ewes, and my favourites the Cheviots. We were down to our final 10 ewes to lamb”.

“On Saturday evening, my final ewe lambed, unfortunately the lambs internal organs started coming out through a hole in the navel, so we rang the vet who didn’t give us much hope, but we felt we had to try. So myself, dad and the lamb headed for the vets to get stitched up. The lamb sucked on the ewe when we got back and we thought we had a fighter. But sadly the lamb died on Sunday evening… the joys of sheep farming”.

Mary and her dad bought a cheviot ram each at the sales in Blessington last October so now the competition is on to see who has the better lambs, a couple of hers flock are pictured (the ones marked with the blue M’s).

The rest of Mary’s weekend was the usual round of feeding, getting sheep and lambs out to grass and checking on stock. "I love the time I get to spend at home, even though it’s always busy” says Mary.

#pearlmusselproject #RuralNetwork #farmlife  #wicklowcheviotsheep #lambing2019 #sheep365 

Tweet

The PMP would like to remind all farmers interested in joining the Pearl Mussel Programme in 2019, that the closing date for receipt of Expression of Interest Form is fast approaching on the 30th April 2019. 

Our catchment officer Mary McAndrew was out yesterday in the Owenriff  meeting farmers who hadn’t yet submitted an expression of interest form for the project. She got 5 new Expression of Interest Forms from local farmers and a farmer took some forms for his neighbours who were at work.

So don’t delay and register your interest in joining the scheme by completing and returning your Expression of Interest Form (PMPF1) which you can download from our website and check with your neighbours that they have done the same !

Call us on 064 6640685 to request a form or get your from our website at: 

http://www.pearlmusselproject.ie/resources/publications.html

Applications received after 30th April 2019 will be held over until the 2020 round of considerations. 

#pearlmusselproject #musselrivers #EIPagri #RuralNetwork 

Tweet

The Pearl Mussel Project have published a new document which sets out the Terms and Conditions of the Pearl Mussel Programme for farmers interested in joining the programme. Further information on the administration and operation of the Programme is available on the project website (PearlMusselProject.ie).

The programme aims to address the challenges of adapting the results based payments approach to target aquatic species, namely the endangered freshwater pearl mussel. It is an exciting opportunity for farmers to derive an additional income from their land and helps to secure the economic viability of agricultural enterprises. The Terms & Conditions booklet includes 29 sections covering all aspects of the programme. 

The Pearl Mussel Project is a component of the European Innovation Partnerships initiative under the Rural Development Programme (2014- 2020) under the remit of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 Of The European Parliament And Of The Council. 

You can download a digital copy of our Terms and Conditions and other programme documentation from the Publications page on our website or write / phone and request a copy.

#pearlmusselproject #musselrivers #EIPagri #RuralNetwork @agriculture_ie

Tweet