Can holistic grazing systems restore degraded hillsides and create profitable farms? How can local food systems and venison products revitalise struggling rural communities? Is it possible to farm with nature rather than against it and still make a living? These are the questions we explore in our conversation with John Duffy from Future Oak Farm, who returned to County Donegal after a career in oil and gas to transform his family’s traditional sheep farm into a model of regenerative agriculture.
John left Donegal at 17 because he couldn’t see a future in traditional farming. After 16 years working in civil engineering, mining and oil and gas exploration across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, he returned home following an industry downturn and his father’s death. What brought him back wasn’t nostalgia but a vision for a different kind of agriculture. Inspired by Allan Savory’s holistic management and the predator-prey dynamics he’d seen in David Attenborough documentaries, John began experimenting with bunched livestock grazing that mimics natural herbivore behaviour. The results transformed not just the land but the economic viability of hill farming in one of Ireland’s most challenging landscapes.
Our conversation covers habitat recovery, woodland regeneration, deer management and the creation of Wild & Co, John’s venison product company that’s building shorter supply chains and retaining more value in rural communities. We also discuss the fragility of long supply chains, the disconnect in Ireland’s food system where 70% of consumed beef is imported despite producing enough to feed ourselves three times over and why John believes the innovation needed for Irish agriculture will come from the challenging farming conditions of the West of Ireland. John offers a practical vision for how farming can support both nature and thriving rural communities.
The guest featured in this episode paid a nominal guesting fee. This fee did not influence the content of the episode. The guest had no editorial control, did not review the episode before publication, and did not directly influence the questions asked during the interview.
Tommy's Outdoors 