Company Profile

Blackstairs Farming Futures CLG is a recently established company with the object of implementing the BFF pilot project funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the European Innovation Partnerships Initiative that is part of their Rural Development Programme 2014-2020.

The Blackstairs Mountains SAC extends to 5,000 ha of open mountain on the border of counties Carlow and Wexford. It contains 17% of Ireland’s European Dry Heath habitat. Research carried out for the Blackstairs Farming Group in 2015 confirmed an almost 50% reduction in farm holders under the age of 44 in Electoral Districts surrounding the Blackstairs Mountains. Data on farm viability indicates a high proportion of unsustainable farms in the Blackstairs area. This combination of an aging farmer population and low farm incomes pose a threat to the achievement of favourable status of the semi- natural habitats and associated species in the Blackstairs Mountains SAC. The project objective is to adopt innovative approaches to add value to the Blackstairs hill farming system whilst simultaneously improving habitat condition.

The BFF pilot proposes to develop and trial four innovations:

1. A Results Based Agri-Environment Payment Scheme for upland habitats and commonage land

2. An effective commonage governance model for Ireland

3. Wider community engagement in the environment, culture and tradition of farming in the Uplands