New Types of Farming

Rapeseed Flowers

The flowers of the rapeseed plant. These flowers produce pods which contain tiny seeds. When the seeds are crushed they produce oil. The oil from the rapeseed plant is used as an alternative fuel.

© Gary Houston

Rapeseed Flowers
© Gary Houston

Rapeseed Flowers

The flowers of the rapeseed plant. These flowers produce pods which contain tiny seeds. When the seeds are crushed they produce oil. The oil from the rapeseed plant is used as an alternative fuel.

© Gary Houston

Enlarge image

While potatoes, barley and corn are the main crops in the county, farmers are now beginning to turn to the cultivation of rapeseed.

As oil stocks worldwide are being used up, this attractive yellow-flowered plant could produce the new eco-friendly fuel of the future.

35% of all forests in Co Donegal are in private ownership and this proportion is rising rapidly. Local farmers, assisted by EU grants, have carried out the majority of tree planting in the county. The main species are conifers, which thrive in the poorer soil of more exposed areas.