Third-generation Irish dairy farmer William Dennehy tends to his livestock and land with a deep sense of responsibility—to his community, his environment, and the generations that will follow. His 96-cow dairy in County Kerry, Ireland, has a salmon fishing river going through it, a continual reminder that his work impacts more than just his own livelihood.

“My obligation in that farm is to the community and the environment,” says Dennehy. “Protecting the soil is investing in food security as far as I’m concerned.”

Dennehy began farming full-time in 1995, when many dairy farmers struggled to make ends meet due to volatile and low milk prices: “We were restricted with [European Union milk] quotas; we couldn’t expand, and it was a struggle to make a living.”

When milk quotas were lifted and the industry restructured, Dennehy and 16 other young Irish dairy farmers decided to form a discussion group to face those challenges together, covering everything from animal welfare and soil management to finance and labor. The group, which still meets the first Tuesday of every month nearly 30 years later, became a lifeline.

“The business of farming can be lonely, isolated,” Dennehy says. “It was more than a talking shop. The meetings are the backbone of everything we do on the farm…The biggest single support I got in my farming career was that group of farmers, and 30 years on, we’re still together.”

Dennehy says these farmers’ meetings often discuss the issue of succession, as many older farmers lack an heir to take over their farm. However, he feels optimistic as he sees younger future Irish dairy farmers—many as young as 12 years old—coming to his farm to learn about the lifestyle, routine, and responsibility of farming. “They get a bit of passion for it,” he says, and some “go on and make farming a livelihood.”

Dennehy passes his knowledge of stewardship and sustainability on through this work. He recently planted a willow bed on the riverbank, which acts as a natural waste filtration system to protect water quality and the important salmon habitat. Under the European Innovation Partnership’s Farming for Water project, he planted 1,000 trees along the riverbank to further improve water quality and enhance soil health.

Read the full article about William Dennehy's work to protect water and soil by Emily Payne at Food Tank.