A Laois farmer will cycle over 700 kilometres to raise awareness for agroforestry farming.

Mr Brendan Guinan, owner of Portlaoise's Fiorbhia farm, organised the longest Malin to Mizen cycle last year. 

The Leinster Express / Laois Live spoke to Mr Guinan on his upcoming cycle, and journey so far.

Starting in Antrim, Mr Guinan and nine others will cycle to Down, into Louth, and on to Dublin. From there, they will cycle to Wicklow, on through Kildare, Kilkenny and Wexford, before finishing in Waterford. The cyclists will dine and stay at regenerative farms along the route of their cycle.

"We want to show the potential of farming without chemicals. We did the Malin to Mizen cycle last year from north to south and call into regenerative farms to show it is national already," the Portlaoise explained.

Pictured: Brendan Guinan and Colman Power on their Malin to Mizen journey in 2024

"It's not a niche thing, farms all over the country are doing it. The reason we are travelling along the east coast this year is we put a call out to farms that we would promote them, and they promote us," he said.

"We got word from loads of farms on the east coast, we physically couldn't get to them. We didn't intend to do a second cycle, but because of such positivity there, we said we would do it and include Northern Ireland. It's a great movement happening," Mr Guinan shared.

What is agroforestry farming?

"Really, it's about leaving more behind than you taken," Mr Guinan explained.

"It's not an extractive process, it's about building biodiversity. We farm without herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, we use no antibiotics and a huge part is animal welfare. We create low low stress environments for animals, plants and trees," he said.

"The less stress means less chance of disease; you can't have a monoculture regenerative farm, it has to have several different features complimenting each other. It's more labour intensive, but we use the animals to do the work for us. We move them around the farm like chess pieces on a board every few days to benefit the soil. Each year is different," Mr Guinan explained.

Pictured: Brendan Guinan and Colman Power

Mr Guinan will be undertaking the cycle with nine others, including Mr Colman Power. Mr Power is a qualified nutritionist with a Masters in organic horticulture.

"Colman is coming along again, having organised the Malin to Mizen with me. He's my right hand man. We have different sponsors, and of the ten cyclists, six will cycle the full 700 kilometres," he said.

Mr Guinan and Mr Power established Grounded in Soil, a collective of agrifood businesses that promote agroforestry farming.

"We have over fifty members involved, all across the country. There are members from Cork to Donegal," Mr Guinan explained.

"I am not training as much as I should be, but I'm getting there," Mr Guinan laughed.

"From Malin to Mizen, we took a detour to travel to my farm in Laois, so we covered over 1200 kilometres. This time it will be around 760 kilometres, broken down over six days.

"It's not a race either, there's room for two more if they want to join. We have a timetable to keep, but it's a very relaxed cycle. People with moderate experience would be surprised with how well they could do- we had a 75 year old take part last year, and this year we have a 63 year old woman undertaking the wold cycle," he said.

Pictured: Brendan Guinan

Mr Guinan has said that the group are teaming up with Down Syndrome Ireland, though not through a fundraising partnership.

"We are teaming up with Down Syndrome Ireland, and we are fundraising to cover the cost of the cycle, accommodation and food," he said.

"We are working together as it's really a positive news story, rather than all the crazy news in the world. It puts regenerative farming into the narrative and gets the conversation started. Down Syndrome Ireland asked if I would be interested in working with them for the same reason," he said.

On their journey, the group will only eat regenerative food.

"No energy drinks or protein bars, all simple food such as leeks, vegetables, fruit and water to rehydrate, you don't need anything else," he said.

"A simple single ingredient food can power you the length of the country."

To highlight the cycle, the group will eat and stay at regenerative farms along their journey.

The group will visit Ursa Minor, Ballycastle; Clarkhill Farm, Antrim; Beechpark Eco Farm, Dublin; Castleruddery Organic Farm, Wicklow; Regan Organic Farm, Wexford; and Barefoot Farm, Waterford.

"We will have a different event on at each farm, with 40 tickets available for each event. The farmer will cook his or her food and promote the farm. We will visit Castleruddery on the 10th, it's the closest one to the Midlands. It is the perfect backdrop, we will be staying in Kilruddery."

For more information on Mr Guinan's cycle, see his website here.