Nestled in the heart of Inishowen is a business that may rightfully claim to be the largest livestock farm in Ireland and the UK, rearing and selling some 14 million worms each year.
Living Green, now home to six full-time staff and a growing range of products, recently welcomed the Irish Farmers Journal to Quigley’s Point, Donegal, where founder and former sheep farmer Neil Crossan shared how it all began.
The worms are kept in a humid, warm environment.
Change of plan
When he first started, the original business plan was to produce worms for export to a company in the UK for the composting sector. A special type of composting worm, the dendrobaena, was imported from Holland.
Though it wouldn’t survive outdoors in Irish conditions, it thrives in indoor composting conditions. However, Neil explained that within six months of getting up and running, he realised this business model wasn’t going to work.
So he began looking at other ways to make worm production viable, turning his attention to the fishing tackle sector.
Working with a local tackle shop, he learned the specification and quality required by the fishing sector, and began figuring out how to meet it. He visited producers in Holland and learned through trial and error.
Through growing this market, he now produces over 14 million organic worms per year, with around 50% sold in Ireland and the other 50% exported to the UK.
The compost is bagged and sold through retail shops and garden centers.
Worm production
It takes around 28 weeks from hatching to produce a fully grown, in-spec worm for sale. A mature worm will weigh around 1-1.2g.
There is significant science involved in producing worms, with everything from temperature, humidity, feed type and volume, to feed placement and density playing a role in making production viable, Neil explains. Much of this has been learned over the lifetime of the business.
Worms are hermaphrodites, containing both male and female reproductive organs and produce their own eggs after around 12 weeks. Most of the eggs Neil needs are produced onsite from his stock.
The hatched worms are placed in special, custom-made boxes which contains bedding material, consisting of a mixture of potato peeling sludge and peat. A small amount of lime is added to increase the pH for the worms.
The boxes are placed in one of four purpose-built polytunnels. It takes four weeks for the worm to turn the bedding material into worm casts, at which point they are then moved to fresh bedding.
When mature, the worms are separated from the castings via a network of screens. Worm eggs are also separated here. The final stage involves manually removing the last of the castings and bedding material, before bagging for sale.
Each year, he sells approximately 14,000kg of live worms, available in 1kg bags and smaller tubs.
The worms are separated from the worm castings and eggs.
Composting
The next area of the business to grow was compost. Worm casts are rich in amino acids, beneficial bacteria and natural plant hormones that promote root growth. Neil began selling this as a separate product around 12 years ago. It was initially a by-product, but when he began producing peat-free composts this side of the business really began to grow he explained.
He produces three different types of certified organic compost, two fully peat free and one with 20% peat.
The compost is produced with either a combination of worm casts, mushroom compost, horse manure, sand and peat, depending on the product. Before going to market with any new compost product, he had to get independent bodies to carry out plant growth trials to compare his to competitors’ products.
The materials are mixed and composted on site, and bagged before being transported to most of the main retailers in Ireland. Around 80-90% of his compost is now sold through retail shops and garden centres.
It takes around 12 days to produce a crop of wheatgrass.
Wheatgrass
Never one to sit still, when an opportunity presented itself to acquire a Wicklow-based wheatgrass business in 2010, Neil took it. The business was moved to Inishowen, and he began growing it from there. Today, he produces around 50,000 shots of organic wheatgrass.
The process is relatively straightforward compared to worm or compost production. He uses Mulika organic wheat seed, which is first soaked for eight hours. It’s then allowed to drain for a day and spread out on trays. It’s covered, allowed to germinate, and grown for 12 days before being harvested, juiced and frozen into shots.
Until now, the wheatgrass had to be frozen to preserve it, which limited its retail suitability. But Neil is working on a new treatment process that will give the wheatgrass a chilled shelf life of six months, eliminating the need for freezing and allowing the business to grow.
Future
Neil has big plans for the future. In addition to the new wheatgrass product, he will soon launch a new worm castings-based product available in pouches. He intends to sell this to the UK market, which could be a game-changer for him, he said.
The wheatgrass is juiced and frozen in shots.
Sustainability
Neil explained that the company has received significant support over the years from both the LEADER programme, administered through Inishowen Development Partnership, and the Local Enterprise Office. Between mentoring, research and development grants, and capital funding towards equipment costs, he estimates the total support amounts to over €500,000.
Part of this support included assessments of the environmental credentials of the products. Through independent evaluations, it was confirmed that the company is carbon neutral. This is supported by several measures, including 50kW of installed solar panels, rainwater harvesting and a 70kW biomass boiler that provides heat.
The company has also been recognised for its efforts, winning the 2025 RDS Sustainable Rural Innovation Award, the 2024 Green Sustainability Award at the National Enterprise Awards and the 2024 winner of Best-Established Business at the Donegal Enterprise Awards.
Nestled in the heart of Inishowen is a business that may rightfully claim to be the largest livestock farm in Ireland and the UK, rearing and selling some 14 million worms each year.
Living Green, now home to six full-time staff and a growing range of products, recently welcomed the Irish Farmers Journal to Quigley’s Point, Donegal, where founder and former sheep farmer Neil Crossan shared how it all began.
The worms are kept in a humid, warm environment.
Change of plan
When he first started, the original business plan was to produce worms for export to a company in the UK for the composting sector. A special type of composting worm, the dendrobaena, was imported from Holland.
Though it wouldn’t survive outdoors in Irish conditions, it thrives in indoor composting conditions. However, Neil explained that within six months of getting up and running, he realised this business model wasn’t going to work.
So he began looking at other ways to make worm production viable, turning his attention to the fishing tackle sector.
Working with a local tackle shop, he learned the specification and quality required by the fishing sector, and began figuring out how to meet it. He visited producers in Holland and learned through trial and error.
Through growing this market, he now produces over 14 million organic worms per year, with around 50% sold in Ireland and the other 50% exported to the UK.
The compost is bagged and sold through retail shops and garden centers.
Worm production
It takes around 28 weeks from hatching to produce a fully grown, in-spec worm for sale. A mature worm will weigh around 1-1.2g.
There is significant science involved in producing worms, with everything from temperature, humidity, feed type and volume, to feed placement and density playing a role in making production viable, Neil explains. Much of this has been learned over the lifetime of the business.
Worms are hermaphrodites, containing both male and female reproductive organs and produce their own eggs after around 12 weeks. Most of the eggs Neil needs are produced onsite from his stock.
The hatched worms are placed in special, custom-made boxes which contains bedding material, consisting of a mixture of potato peeling sludge and peat. A small amount of lime is added to increase the pH for the worms.
The boxes are placed in one of four purpose-built polytunnels. It takes four weeks for the worm to turn the bedding material into worm casts, at which point they are then moved to fresh bedding.
When mature, the worms are separated from the castings via a network of screens. Worm eggs are also separated here. The final stage involves manually removing the last of the castings and bedding material, before bagging for sale.
Each year, he sells approximately 14,000kg of live worms, available in 1kg bags and smaller tubs.
The worms are separated from the worm castings and eggs.
Composting
The next area of the business to grow was compost. Worm casts are rich in amino acids, beneficial bacteria and natural plant hormones that promote root growth. Neil began selling this as a separate product around 12 years ago. It was initially a by-product, but when he began producing peat-free composts this side of the business really began to grow he explained.
He produces three different types of certified organic compost, two fully peat free and one with 20% peat.
The compost is produced with either a combination of worm casts, mushroom compost, horse manure, sand and peat, depending on the product. Before going to market with any new compost product, he had to get independent bodies to carry out plant growth trials to compare his to competitors’ products.
The materials are mixed and composted on site, and bagged before being transported to most of the main retailers in Ireland. Around 80-90% of his compost is now sold through retail shops and garden centres.
It takes around 12 days to produce a crop of wheatgrass.
Wheatgrass
Never one to sit still, when an opportunity presented itself to acquire a Wicklow-based wheatgrass business in 2010, Neil took it. The business was moved to Inishowen, and he began growing it from there. Today, he produces around 50,000 shots of organic wheatgrass.
The process is relatively straightforward compared to worm or compost production. He uses Mulika organic wheat seed, which is first soaked for eight hours. It’s then allowed to drain for a day and spread out on trays. It’s covered, allowed to germinate, and grown for 12 days before being harvested, juiced and frozen into shots.
Until now, the wheatgrass had to be frozen to preserve it, which limited its retail suitability. But Neil is working on a new treatment process that will give the wheatgrass a chilled shelf life of six months, eliminating the need for freezing and allowing the business to grow.
Future
Neil has big plans for the future. In addition to the new wheatgrass product, he will soon launch a new worm castings-based product available in pouches. He intends to sell this to the UK market, which could be a game-changer for him, he said.
The wheatgrass is juiced and frozen in shots.
Sustainability
Neil explained that the company has received significant support over the years from both the LEADER programme, administered through Inishowen Development Partnership, and the Local Enterprise Office. Between mentoring, research and development grants, and capital funding towards equipment costs, he estimates the total support amounts to over €500,000.
Part of this support included assessments of the environmental credentials of the products. Through independent evaluations, it was confirmed that the company is carbon neutral. This is supported by several measures, including 50kW of installed solar panels, rainwater harvesting and a 70kW biomass boiler that provides heat.
The company has also been recognised for its efforts, winning the 2025 RDS Sustainable Rural Innovation Award, the 2024 Green Sustainability Award at the National Enterprise Awards and the 2024 winner of Best-Established Business at the Donegal Enterprise Awards.
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