If you go down to the woods today, particularly the woodland created by John Normanly in County Sligo, you are sure to see all manner of wild life. Together with his wife Maria, John has worked for more than twenty years to transform his fourteen hectare farm into a mixed forest with mostly oak trees, some larch and spruce and some beech trees.

The people at Farming For Nature have asked 21 of their farming ambassadors all around the country to open the gates to the public tomorrow for guided farm walks. Countrywide did just that during the week, and visited a farm outside Maynooth in Co Kildare.

Countrywide speaks to Michael Healy-Rae, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Forestry, Farm Safety and Horticulture.

The fungus that causes Ash trees to die arrived here in 2012, with devastating consequences for 90% of the population. But now scientists have been investigating what was going on with the 10% of trees that will remain healthy, and they think that might hold the answer to how to restore the Ash in Ireland.

In 1988 the Guild of Agricultural Journalists put together a time capsule in a milk churn. Inside, they placed articles of the day from the main Irish newspapers and the farming press, plus brochures for machinery, and that piece of radio archive. This week the padlocked churn was opened in the RDS at a gathering of agricultural journalists.

Countrywide Full Episode 30/08/2025

Countrywide decided to hop on board a traditional barge which travels along the Grand Canal from Sallins in Kildare, joining other passengers to explore the nature in and along the waterway and guided by Chris McKenna. For more, go to bargetrip.ie

The demise of small abattoirs around the country has been decades in the making, but farmers producing small quantities of meat for local consumption in independent shops can’t exist without them. And yet they continue to close.

Countrywide Full Episode 23/08/2025.

If you’re a child in rural Ireland, will it ever be an option for you to cycle safely to school? The Rural Cycling Collective, which is part of the Irish Cycling Campaign, want rural roads to become safe again for cyclists. More on cyclist.ie

Ella McSweeney speaks to entrepreneur, investor and food king, Roscommon’s John Stapleton. Go to johnstapleton.eu for more information.

Throughout the country, although the vacant property grant has breathed new life into old, empty homes, plenty still sit untouched. In the town land of Knockbrack in Sligo, a small farm has stood silent for half a century, when teenager Michael O’Hara set off for a new life in Brooklyn, New York in the mid 1970s. But it was never forgotten.

Earlier this week, reports emerged of a fish kill on the river Blackwater, initially believed to affect an eight-kilometer stretch between Mallow and Roskeen Bridge.

Preparations are in full swing in Fuddlestown, Co Wexford, for an on-farm local music festival taking place on the last weekend in August. Fuddlefest.ie for more details.

All around the country you might have seen combine harvesters and tractors on the roads and in the fields cutting the crops and bringing them in. Overall, Harvest 2025 is shaping up to be a positive one. The weather has stayed dry and the yields have been good. But as always, it’s a less rosy picture when it comes to the prices…

On Sunday, the Irish Native Rare Breed Society will have a celebration of all their animals at Bunratty Castle in Clare. On 24th August they’ll be at the Longford Westmeath mart for another event. It’s all part of National Heritage Week which starts tomorrow with thousands of events to celebrate our built, natural and cultural heritage.

The economy of many coastal communities has changed in recent decades from fishing towards other marine-based industries. Lorna Siggins went to West Cork where seaweed is being grown in baths inside a temperature-controlled building right beside the sea.

Countrywide Full Episode 16/08/2025

Janet Heeran writes about life as it unfolds on her husband's farm and in the classroom where she teaches. Here she remembers the 1954 Dublin Horse Show.

Countrywide Full Episode 09/08/2025, live from the Dublin Horse Show in the RDS.