Features
Living the Good Life on Rathlin Island
Destiny is a strange thing. When Richard Green met his future wife Angela in the 1970's, he had no inkling that he would exchange the wilds of Tasmania for the wilds of Rathlin Island.
Angela, originally from Rathlin, went to work as a nursing sister in Australia and the couple came home to visit Rathlin for three months. "My father-in-law tricked us really", Richard says. "He asked us to look after the farm for the winter and gave us livestock to mind. Of course you never just mind a farm for the winter. We've been here since". More than thirty years later he has no regrets. "There were hard times to begin with", he says. "It's difficult to make a living from hill land. I've always worked at other jobs to supplement the farm income - firstly on the roads and later on the ferry". Richard is now the skipper of the ferry between the island and the mainland.
Easy conversion
Richard converted his 600 acre farm to organic production six years ago. "We bought land from the National Trust to add to the 160 acre family farm that already existed", he says. "Becoming organic was not a big change for us because we had been using very little fertiliser. Basically, it was going back to the way the land was farmed for generations".
Much of the hill land is rough grazing with some better soil on lower fields. "We manage to cut about 16 acres of baled silage in the smaller fields and hope to diversify into other crops as well", says Richard. The farm carries 40 cows and followers and 70 sheep. The cows are Friesian and continental crosses put in calf to an Angus bull. "We end up with pretty good quality animals that are good milkers", he says. Sheep are a recent addition to the farm. "We started with Scottish blackface and now most are Suffolk", explains Richard. "I'm not really a sheep lover but they are very useful to clean up weeds and keep the fields in shape".
Good markets
Although not raised on a farm, Richard has farming in the blood. Family members farmed about 5,000 acres in England and were involved in horticultural training and education before emigrating to Tasmania. "I've always been interested in farming and had farming friends", he says. "I've learned a lot from islanders over the years".
Richard's marketing arrangements would be the envy of many organic farmers in Ireland. "I have no problem selling stock", he says. "In fact, there is a shortage of organic stores so you end up turning potential buyers away". He has dealt exclusively with one organic farmer who finishes cattle on the mainland for the past three years. The arrangement has worked well. "He comes to see the cattle as they grow and gives me some useful advice as well as providing bulls", he says. Transport of animals to and from the island is not a problem. "We have a good freight boat and four cattle trailers can fit on a journey", Richard says. His stock will eventually end up on the UK market where demand for organic meat is growing significantly. Prices are good and the farm is now providing a significant percentage of the Green of family income.
Island living
Composed of basalt rock, Rathlin Island is situated about six and a half nautical miles off the Antrim coast and supports a population of ninety on its 4,000 acres. The island has its own primary school and second level students go to Belfast to boarding school. Tourism is the main industry on the island and up to 28,000 tourists visit each year. "There is good employment on the island", Richard says. "One way or another, most jobs are tourist related". Various music festivals and events take place during the year and the island attracts many bird watchers, divers and walkers. "People come to see what island life is like", he says. "Some have a strange concept of how we live. It the weather is bad and we can't travel we regard the mainland as cut off from us not the other way around. We have our own electricity and mains water supply and pretty much everything else you need to live comfortably".
Richard and Angela's three children have grown up and left home at this stage. Two are based in England and one in Donegal. "They love to come home and get involved on work on the farm", Richard says, "but it is very hard to get young people back". The profile of farmers on the island is ageing. One other farmer has converted to organic but bureaucracy prevents more from taking up the organic option, Richard believes. "Bookeeping and record keeping is heavy going and these are not young farmers", he says. "Minimal changes would have to be made to the farming system because most farmers here are fairly close to being organic anyway but no-one likes all the form filling".
Quality of life
Richard believes that there is potential to expand into organic horticultural production on the island and he has plans to erect a polytunnel this year. "Guesthouses will take island produce in preference to imported and, with so many visitors, there is demand for vegetables particularly during the main growing season. I would love to be able to supply vegetables and to employ someone to help", he says.
A better organic aid package would convince more farmers to convert, Richards feels. "We don't do as well as our organic counterparts in the South", he says. "On going support is needed after the five year period". He thinks that the advisory service provided by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is excellent. "There is plenty of information and farm walks", he says "and help is always just a phone call away".
What Richard enjoys most about island living is the easy pace of living. "You work hard but the quality of life is great and it is very safe to live here. You can still leave your doors unlocked", he says. "Family farming life is all about being custodians of the land and keeping the greenness. In a way you are part of the landscape".
