Tillage Biodiversity Photo Competition Winners

Congratulations to Christopher Bourke, Kanturk, Co. Cork, the Teagasc & Tillage Industry Ireland ‘Tillage & Biodiversity Photo Competition’ winner. His photo showing an ‘Orange Tip Butterfly & friend on a charlock plant’ was described by the judges as exceptional, with excellent clarity and lighting

Winning Photo - Orange Tip butterfly and friend on charlock

This image captured the theme of the competition, and demonstrated the role of native arable wildflowers in supporting declining butterfly species and valuable pollinators such as hoverflies. Christopher said he has a lot of biodiversity on his farm and that photography is a hobby. He is an active member of the Mallow Camera Club.

First Runner up: Bees, trees and barley

Lisa Walsh-Kemmis of Stradbally, Co. Laois took this photo in the back lawn field which is where the barley is grown to produce the Back Lawn Larger in the Ballykilcavan Brewery, which is run by her husband David and herself. The judges thought this was an excellent photo that capturing the role that wildflowers, in this instance vetch, found in field margins and boundaries, have in supporting pollinators and wider farmland wildlife. The treeline and the woodland in the background also provide a diversity of habitats.

Second runner up: Scots pine and spring barley

Clinton Brownrigg of Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow was in the right place at theright time when taking this photograph. He caught the sun going down behind the Wicklow Mountains about half an hour before sunset. This excellent photo captures the efforts that arable farmers undertake to retain existing habitats. Native trees, such as Scots Pine here, not only provide a valuable habitat for a whole range of biodiversity, they also play a key role in carbon sequestration. The woodland surrounding the field also plays a critical role in delivering multiple ecosystem services.”

There were a lot of great entries demonstrating what tillage farmers are doing to maintain and encourage biodiversity, both within, and around their crops. This means recognising and protecting what they have already, as well as doing specific other things.