Laois man's wild hides set to feature on popular RTÉ show

A Laois farmer with a passion for wildlife and who has managed to generate an income in the process features in the latest edition of Ear to the Ground on RTÉ !.

Richard Duff has worked on his family suckler and pedigree cattle farm at Camcloon, Bally his whole life. But it's the wildlife on his farm that is his real passion.

Richard built several hides on his land to photograph everything from red squirrels to stoats. He now rents them out to photographers looking to capture farmland wildlife and birds.

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Ear to the Ground Presenter Ella McSweeney pays a visit to Richard's farm to see what wildlife she can photograph. More below picture.

The latest episode also features Andrew Agnew is a farmer in Co Louth, who despite not growing up on a farm nor having a history of farming in his family, now successfully specialises in rare breeds. Helen visits his farm where she meets his newborn Oxford Sandy and Black rare piglets. A breed that has neared extinction twice but are now said to be making their comeback.

Darragh McCullough finds out about a multi-species sward is a mixture of at least three different species on a visit to Louth where one farming system makes the most of their 150 acre grazing platform and uses zero grazing to allow grass to be fed to cows for as long as the season allows.

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The new episode in the latest series of Ear to the Ground is broadcast on Thursday, February 10 on RTÉ One at 7pm. It is repeated on Sunday at 1.10pm. You can also catch it on the RTÉ player.