A retired Co Offaly farmer who describes himself as "an environmentalist without being a tree-hugger" claims to have a potential solution to the problems of pollution caused by artificial fertilisers.
Mr Ivan Sheppard, of Lismoney near Kinnitty, claims a French seaweed, harvested from the seabed off the coast of Brittany, will not only safeguard rivers and smaller watercourses but will restore naturally occurring trace elements making the use of fertilisers less necessary.
Mr Sheppard also claims his seaweed fertiliser will give a 10 to 15 per cent boost to growth over more popular products, and as it does not have acid added it will not damage the worms and bugs necessary for healthy soil and the generation of natural manure.
Called Timac, the product carries the usual soil nutrients but instead of being attached to a fine sand as many fertilisers are, they are attached to the seaweed which is high in trace elements. Mr Sheppard says the weed is a coral type and comes ground down. "It is not the same as simply spreading our native moss-style seaweed from the coast."
"There are about 30 trace elements," he explained. "These include copper, cobalt, iodine and the seaweed is very resilient as it needs to withstand varying temperatures in the sea.
"It is harvested only once every 15 years when it is mature, and when you spread it on the land you don't have to replace any of these trace elements. It will not leech in anyway, remaining near the soil surface where it can be of most use and where, importantly, it does not pollute watercourses."
The seaweed-based concoction is "slightly more expensive" than artificial fertilisers but Mr Sheppard says because of all those trace elements you need to use less fertiliser the following year.
One of the problems with more usual fertilisers, according to Mr Sheppard, is they are treated with acids to make them more soluble and allow them to drain into the ground more rapidly. The Timac fertiliser may take slightly longer to be absorbed "but the lack of acid protects the bug life", and he maintains any delay is made up for in enhanced yield.
"We see the seaweed as a bridge to bring the fertiliser to the ground. It won't leech out and it won't harm anything else, it is a remarkable story," he said. "It's capable of preparing the ground for up to 300 tonnes of dry matter - that is maize for example - per hectare, that speaks for itself."
Mr Sheppard, who ran an auctioneering business along with his farm and who "still does a bit in the auctioneering", is now importing Timac from France. He says it is a good business but it is not that which motivates him.
He has always had a concern for the environment and at one time was involved with a campaign to achieve government supports for sensitive farming methods in environmentally sensitive areas such as Slyne Head and the Slieve Blooms.
"It was a very difficult thing to do in Slyne Head. A lot of farm incomes were made up in large part by social welfare payments but the principle was established and it led to the REPS (Rural Environmental Protection Scheme)."