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00:00Hello and welcome to Ear to the Ground and the final show of this year and with Christmas
00:06almost upon us Ella is in Kilkenny playing elf to a farmer turned toy maker. How big an object can
00:14you scan? I could scan you if I wanted to scan you I suppose yeah. With the recent outbreak of
00:20Blue Tongue in Northern Ireland Stephen looks at the implications for Irish farming. I think we need
00:25to be really wary of the idea that potentially this virus has crossed the border. And I'll be taking
00:31a chilly dip off the coast of Wardford before relaxing in a brand new off-farm venture.
01:01In just a week's time thousands of people across the country will be jumping into the sea for their
01:07annual Christmas swim before heading for one of the many mobile saunas that have opened up on almost
01:14every shoreline. But our story begins back in October in a milking parlour in Ardmore in County Waterford.
01:24It's a regular Sunday morning on the Keane family farm. Tony Keane and his son Jack are busy milking
01:31their 180 cow herd. So far so normal on your average Irish dairy farm. But next door there's something
01:41you wouldn't expect to find a mobile sauna and hot tub. It's all to do with the business that Jack
01:49set
01:49up last July. So how long will it take to fill this? So it takes about half an hour to
01:56fill the hot tub.
01:58Then we'll get the fire lighting and it takes about two hours then to heat up the hot tub to
02:02have it ready
02:02for the first session. So the first session's at 12. So once we have a lighting by 10 we'll be
02:08ready to go.
02:10Jack graduated in Ag Science from University College Cork in 2023 before starting a job at the
02:18Chagas Advisory Office in Middleton. I learned a lot there but the office side of things
02:25wasn't really for me. I'd like being out in the open, outdoors and stuff. So I went back farming this
02:30year
02:30until April and then I decided to try something else out. Living so close to the sea and with an
02:38interest in health and fitness, Jack settled pretty quickly on the idea of starting his sauna and hot tub
02:43venture. I kind of wanted my own little project that I could work on. I wanted something that I'm
02:49my own boss in summer garden. So I decided to go down this route. I play GA and sports like
02:57that so
02:57I was kind of interested in recovery and there's loads of health benefits around it like just even
03:03for stress, mental health and all the rest of it like. I used to be going to asanas maybe every
03:09weekend, every second weekend myself. The fact that we're so close to the sea here as well I thought
03:14that that was just a good idea to go down that route. It's lovely down there. So I was kind
03:19of
03:19looking into different saunas and all the rest of it and I saw that the mobile option was probably
03:23the easiest because if it didn't work out for me I could always set it on or move it. That
03:28it wasn't
03:29fixed. I wasn't kind of stuck with it. Jack purchased his hot tub and sauna from Lithuania at a cost
03:35of
03:35around 20,000 euros. Until it landed in the yard, his father Tony didn't really know what to think.
03:45I actually thought he was joking the first time. Even the second time to be honest I thought he was
03:49joking. And maybe you still think it's a bit of a joke do you? Well it wouldn't be for me.
03:54It wouldn't
03:54be what I'd think. I wouldn't google it first thing in the morning when I'd get up. And he had
03:59this idea
03:59and I said fine if you want to go for it, go for it. Jack has two sisters and a
04:05younger brother but
04:06he's the one most interested in farming and the plan is that he will eventually take over here.
04:12But Tony is still far from retiring and it's not easy stepping back from something you've worked hard
04:18at building up. It's hard to know. More than likely he will. More than likely he will but that's his
04:24decision. I won't stop him. Yeah. But he's got to make it for himself. I'm only after arriving where
04:30I am very lately and you're going to hand it all to the next generation straight away. I don't know.
04:37I don't know. If he shows enough interest then he's willing to take over. Yeah I'd say it as well
04:42to step
04:42out of the way. Because it's difficult to have two bosses in the same yard isn't it? And we wouldn't
04:48be the
04:48greatest two bosses to work together to be honest with you. Yeah. No. It's not that easy to hand something
04:54straight to a fella. Just even besides a good education he might not have enough suffering done
04:59yet. Yeah. He has to earn it. Yeah. Yeah. I'll be doing my own suffering a little later on but
05:08first
05:09we have to get to today's location. Jack mostly sets up at popular spots along the Waterford coast.
05:19Today we've only travelled a couple of miles down the road to the end of their farm
05:23at Ballyquin beach. The Ballyquin mermaids have just been in for their daily dip and are ready
05:30for their Sunday treat. The sauna is that part of the routine they say? It's fabulous. It brings a whole
05:37other cohort of people in here. Young people and the young ones love it. The younger people are really
05:43embracing the whole positivity you know and Jack is a young man himself. All that age group are coming.
05:48It's fantastic for them. Yeah. It really is and then they're jumping into the sea below. Okay. Well I'm
05:53being told I have to first endure the ocean before I'm allowed the comfort of the sauna but you're
05:59heading that way and I'm heading this way yeah? Oh yeah. And you have to embrace it not endure it.
06:03Okay well I'll
06:04do my best to embrace but it'll be a small short embrace okay. As the mermaids head into the steamy
06:13warmth of the sauna I've stupidly agreed to brave the bitterly cold Celtic sea. Okay this is gorgeous
06:20and all that but it's actually flipping freezing so it's going to be short and sharp. The sauna better be
06:26good.
06:38Oh my god. Yes. There's a reason most people don't feel this on a Sunday morning.
06:54I surprised myself and lasted all of two minutes.
07:00But not without the sense of achievement. Okay so Daniel Craig I may not be but I survived.
07:10Take me to the heat. The party's going on in here is it? I was more than ready for my
07:17full finished
07:18sauna experience. Now that's pretty sexy.
07:23Felt hat in place to protect my head from the heat. I was soon in my element.
07:30With the growth in popularity of saunas like this Jack feels he's in the right place at the right time.
07:37When you were studying your ag science degree you never imagined to be perched on a rock here.
07:43No I didn't. It's a small bit different from what I had taught maybe a few years back when I
07:48was
07:48studying agricultural science. Everything's after settling down a small bit and things seem to be
07:54going very very well so far. Yeah. So hopefully it stays going that way for me. Is there a danger
07:59that this
08:00tempts you away from the farm in a bigger way? Um I'd say maybe maybe but I'd say there'll always
08:06be plenty of
08:07jobs at home for for me to do. I don't think I'll ever be short of a job to do
08:11down there for some
08:12yeah some strange reason. At least now you have options. I do I do.
08:23That's it for part one coming up after the break. Blue tongue disease is in Ireland but are we ready
08:29to combat it? If you don't stop it early then you run the risk of it becoming something that we
08:34may
08:34have to live with long term. I'm making 3D toys in Kilkenny.
08:46For the very first time the diseased blue tongue is now on the island of Ireland.
08:51Discovered in cattle here in Northern Ireland the implications of this are already being felt
08:56north and south of the border. I'm here at the Royal Ulster Winter Fair in County Antrim where
09:02this area behind me should be filled with the very best breeds of cattle but due to the outbreak no
09:09animals are allowed into the fair this year. For the past three weeks temporary control zones restricting
09:15animal movement have been in place in Northern Ireland around farms where blue tongue has been
09:20detected. Even though it lies outside these zones the Royal Ulster Winter Fair has cancelled all animal
09:27classes this year. Has this ever happened before? No this is the 39th year of the Royal Ulster Winter
09:34Fair and we've never had it without livestock before and it is very very disappointing that we've had to do
09:38it this year. Do you think would there be a financial implication for some of the competitors? I would
09:43imagine there would be but unfortunately there's nothing that we could do. We had to to take the advice
09:48and go with cancelling the classes. The first positive tests for the disease occurred during routine
09:54sampling at an abattoir as part of the surveillance and tracking program for blue tongue in Northern
09:59Ireland. Since then it has been discovered in more herds. David Kyle is deputy chief veterinary
10:06officer with the department of agriculture in Northern Ireland. It's not really a surprise to us
10:12we've been tracking this disease for quite some time. It landed in England in the southeast of England
10:17in about October 23 and we've been monitoring its progress across Great Britain. Blue tongue is spread by midges
10:24and is so called because one of the symptoms can be a swelling and discoloration of the tongue. It can
10:31also cause fever, lameness, fetal deformities and stillbirths. Clinical signs are much more severe in sheep.
10:39Blue tongue poses no public health risk though or threat to food safety. Were those animals showing symptoms?
10:46Absolutely no symptoms. They would have left the farm perfectly healthy and in the abattoir the vet
10:51would have seen them and there were no comments at all on their health. With temporary control zones
10:56of 20 kilometres around affected farms now in operation, movement of animals within these zones
11:02is severely restricted. It spreads by midges, not necessarily from animal to animal. So why are there
11:08restrictions on why animals can move? Well pregnant animals can certainly carry the virus and the fear
11:15would be that pregnant animal could go to an area where there is no disease, calve and then midges
11:21subsequently set off a new wave of infection. In response to the outbreak, here the Irish
11:27Department of Agriculture is now stepping up testing. According to a spokesperson, that will include
11:33on foreign blood sampling of cattle and sheep, testing livestock submitted to regional veterinary laboratories
11:39and sampling of cattle routinely slaughtered at meat plants. Dr Gerald Barry is a virologist at the UCD
11:47School of Veterinary Medicine. Midges don't respect borders, right? So they're going to move where the wind blows
11:53them essentially. They don't tend to move over massive distances, but we couldn't discount it.
11:59And I think we need to be really wary of the idea that potentially this virus has crossed the border.
12:05Climate change is causing warmer and shorter winters, a factor that could be contributing to these recent
12:11outbreaks. Given that this winter has been quite mild, is there a general increase of more midges about?
12:19The fact that there is milder winters definitely encourages that prolonged season of activity,
12:25even into November. And of course, remember as well, within barns and sheds where the temperature
12:30might be slightly higher, you might have more midge activity potentially even into the deep winter.
12:37In response to an anticipated outbreak on the island, a new vaccine program was announced in the north
12:43this summer. Andrew Moore is the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs responsible
12:50for its introduction. Do we need to have an all Ireland approach to this in terms of vaccinations?
12:55The island of Ireland is one single epidemiological area. That's why we must cooperate on this.
13:00In terms of vaccinations, I made a decision as Minister to allow farmers to make their own decisions
13:05on whether to make this available for themselves. It's for my counterpart in the south to consider this
13:10as the picture emerges. The Irish Department of Agriculture has said it is now closely examining
13:17the potential role for blue tongue vaccines to help protect Irish livestock when the higher risk
13:22disease transmission period begins in late spring, early summer of next year. It is also engaging with
13:29vaccine companies in preparation for this. The vaccine doesn't stop infection and it doesn't stop
13:36onward transmission of the virus from an infected animal. What the vaccine will do is it'll reduce
13:42clinical signs and it'll reduce a little bit the amount of virus in the animal, but it doesn't get
13:49rid of it and it doesn't block infection. So while the vaccine does help, it's not a kind of a
13:55magic bullet
13:55that's going to stop an outbreak. In the north, the decision to vaccinate has been left to individual
14:01farmers. At the Royal Ulster Winter Fair, the ones I spoke to were broadly supportive.
14:07The vaccine currently is costing £2.50 per year or £5 per pound. So it's a considerable cost if we
14:15have to do it every year. But if it prevents animals dying, it's very cheap.
14:19I don't think there'll be any going to vaccinate right at this moment. I think coming closer to maybe
14:24January, February time, we're going to have to look into it. Until there's a lot more positive cases,
14:28I don't think we'll do a lot about it. So will you vaccinate? Probably if it started to show its
14:35face
14:35more, we'll be vaccinating, yeah. If Blue Tongue was to be detected in the Republic, the sector most
14:42impacted would be live exports, which in 2024 was worth €340 million. Cattle accounted for 75% of that.
14:53Adam Woods is Beef Editor with the Irish Farmers Journal.
14:56We export thousands of calves in the springtime, thousands of weanlings as well. So that puts
15:01huge pressure then in terms of beef price possibly in two years' time. The initial thinking now is
15:07because the disease is so prevalent across Europe, there won't be as strict measures put in place.
15:12Here before it was that we had to be Blue Tongue free to export to those countries, but because Blue
15:16Tongue is prevalent across Europe, those health starts, it's thought that could be amended and we can
15:21still maybe export some cattle and some sheep from 2026 onwards.
15:25The fact that Blue Tongue has finally been detected on the island confirms a fear we've been living with
15:31since it was found in England two years ago. Whether it's here to stay will be down to how we
15:37respond.
15:37The key really is rapid early response. We need to wrap up dramatically our surveillance to stamp out any
15:47potentially infected animals and then vaccinate in that region as well as an added layer to try and
15:54mitigate against onward transmission of the infection next year. If you don't stop it early,
16:01then you run the risk of it becoming something that we may have to live with long term.
16:09It is not long now until children all over the country will be unwrapping their new toys.
16:15But not all of them will have been made in Santa's workshop.
16:19I'm in Kilkenny to meet a young man on his family farm whose future lies in something completely different,
16:28something he's building layer by layer.
16:31Adam Brennan lives just outside Castle Comer. He works as a substitute secondary school teacher,
16:38but helps out on the farm when he can. Two years ago, he also started his own 3D printing company.
16:47And like many startups, it all began in the family home.
16:52So this is where it all started, Ella. Up in the attic?
16:56Yeah, the first printer was there and then by the end of five or six months,
17:01I had six printers up here and I had no sockets left.
17:03Six printers? Six printers, yeah.
17:05Was it very noisy? They weren't. No, they're not too bad.
17:09No, I'm sure Dad might say it different now because this room is in there, but it was fairly warm
17:13up here.
17:15Adam lives with his father, Jackie, and grandmother, Mary.
17:19Mary and her late husband, Tom, originally owned this farm.
17:23But things, of course, were very different here in the 1950s.
17:26What did you do? What kind of farming?
17:29We were milking that time, weren't we?
17:31We were milking, yeah, milking, yeah.
17:32Very different from now?
17:34Well, very different from now. We hadn't that many cows.
17:36Three-laked stool.
17:37I was sitting on the stool milking the cows when I came here first.
17:42You were hand-milking the cows. Unbelievable.
17:44That went out for a few years.
17:46Jackie has developed the farm over the years and now has 70 fleck-fee cattle,
17:51a dual-purpose milk and beef breed.
17:53He was just 18 years old when he first took over here.
17:57Do you remember the first morning after you had had the farm handed over to you?
18:01I wouldn't really remember. It wouldn't have been any different than the morning before.
18:05Like, you still had to go up to milk the cows, like, and it was...
18:07Sure, but an amazing feeling, surely.
18:09Yeah, yeah, but sure, look, you had more responsibility to take on from there, like, so...
18:14Another 10 years, I'd be handing over the rails, like...
18:16Only 10 years?
18:18It's Adam's brother, Liam, who is the most interested in agriculture, having studied it in college.
18:24He's currently working in Australia.
18:27Adam has an educational degree in graphics, engineering and technology.
18:32Was it always in your mind, like design, engineering, the idea that you might set something up?
18:38I think it was, yeah. I suppose I would have been thinking about different businesses to set up
18:43and kind of thinking it through before actually deciding on one.
18:46So, I ended up a 3D printed in the end.
18:48Yeah, what did you make of it now?
18:49I couldn't understand what 3D printing was in the camp.
18:52I didn't know what was going on. I'd say, what the hell is this like doing upstairs?
18:56I didn't know what it was in the beginning, like, so...
18:58I was wondering, was there something that was going to milk the cows for me?
19:01Did it make sense that Adam started to go into that? I mean, was he always into those sort of
19:06things?
19:06Yeah, he always had a good interest in them things, like, and I knew whatever he was going to do,
19:10he was going to do it right, like.
19:11Go, Gernie. Come on. Come on. Come on.
19:13When I was in TY, Dad got me into a farm supply shop in Kilkenny, and I kind of kept
19:19on that job.
19:19Then after TY, I was working every summer and every Saturday.
19:22I was doing a lot of repairs and farm repairs, and there was always something different coming in
19:26that I had to fix. There was always learning involved.
19:29You never knew what was going to come through the door.
19:32You can give that one to the heifers. There we go.
19:34It was during an open night at school when he was teaching that Adam first saw a 3D printer in
19:40action.
19:41It was something that immediately caught his attention.
19:44I kind of did a bit of research. I kind of realised there was no one actually offering 3D printing
19:48as a service.
19:49So I went and bought my own one then in January 24.
19:52Where did you get the money for that? How much did they cost?
19:54I'm sure, I suppose, living at home, so I had a little bit of saves in the bank.
19:58So they range from about 500 to 1,000. There's different models coming out then,
20:03so they are somewhat affordable.
20:06In April of this year, Adam moved his operation into the local enterprise centre in Castle Comer.
20:13Having more space has allowed him to add more machines.
20:18The two new printers he's bringing here today will mean he now has 25 machines in total.
20:27These are the printers?
20:28Yeah, these are all the printers.
20:29So it's not what I had taught.
20:30What did you think?
20:31I had taught of a printer.
20:32A printer? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a bit different, yeah.
20:36Having taught children with autism and special educational needs,
20:40Adam decided to focus his 3D printing business on making sensory toys.
20:46They're made using bio-based plastic imported from Asia,
20:50which are derived from plant materials such as cornstarch and sugarcane.
20:54So it's building up layer by layer here, one at a time,
20:58and then the first layer is made on the base of it.
21:01So the first layer on this one is all that part there.
21:04Oh, it's hot, yeah.
21:05And then it's hot when it comes out of the printer, but it cools down fairly quickly, yeah.
21:09And how long does it take to build that?
21:11That one there takes five hours.
21:21Adam's tactile and colourful toys are largely based on animals and dinosaurs,
21:27but he also makes fidget-type objects.
21:30You're a teacher.
21:31When you go into a class where you think that the kids would benefit from these,
21:35what happens when you give it to them?
21:37It's like clicking the pen there with the kids.
21:39They have energy that they're trying to release.
21:41So when they have something in their hand, like a fidget toy,
21:43they're releasing that energy.
21:44So they're more inclined to be focused then when that energy is being output somewhere else.
21:48Okay, so they can concentrate a bit more.
21:49They can concentrate a lot more, yeah.
21:52Do you design them yourself?
21:54Um, I design some things myself.
21:56Most of the toys, I pay a commercial licence on them,
21:58and then I get them tested and then they're available to sell them after that.
22:03Adam is also looking to grow his business in other directions.
22:08Everything from making moulds for use by sculptors to manufacturing industrial parts.
22:14So that's the scanner there and it picks up the dimensions when I put it close to the object.
22:18Yeah.
22:18So these markers there that are around that screwdriver there,
22:21that's giving the scanner a signal of where it actually is and what I'm scanning.
22:26So you can take an object like this, put it on this table, scan it.
22:30Yeah, yeah, and replicate it down into a plastic object.
22:33And then just replicate it, that's incredible.
22:34Exactly.
22:35And how big an object can you scan?
22:37I could scan you if I wanted to scan you, I suppose, yeah.
22:40So the potential is massive.
22:42Yeah, there's loads of potential, yeah.
22:43Adam sells his sensory toys and fidgets online and at markets.
22:49And they're now stocked in places like Dublin Zoo, Dingle Aquarium and the National Reptile Zoo here in Kilkenny.
22:56Is it financially a good prospect? Are you making a return now?
23:00I suppose any business as well, like at the start I did have an input with my own funds.
23:07But then after a couple of months then as well, it was paying for itself.
23:10And like, I am still in the first two years, so I am reinvesting, reinvesting what I am making.
23:16And you've developed three careers.
23:18Yes, I suppose there's three careers that are on the go now, yeah.
23:20So trying to keep it all tied into one and have a balance between it all is the main focus.
23:26It's not at a stage yet where I want to, even though I do have a lot there behind me,
23:29but I still have a long way to go, I think.
23:35Well, that's it for this episode and this year.
23:38We'll be back on your screens on the 8th of January.
23:41In the meantime, have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year.
23:46Don't forget this programme will be repeated on Sunday at lunchtime after the farming weather.
23:51You can contact us on Facebook and follow us on X.
23:55And you can hear more farming stories on Countrywide this Saturday morning on RTE Radio 1.
24:27We'll see you next time.
24:31one for the next marche.
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