Soils

• This region is dominated by fertile brown earth soils which are suitable for all types of farming.
• Fertile brown earth soils are rich in humus from decaying deciduous forests in the past.
• Fertile brown earth soils allow the intensive farming of arable crops like wheat and barley.
• Around north county Dublin, light sandy soils are found, they are perfect for market gardening. Here salad crops such as tomatoes and lettuce are grown in glasshouses
• Onions, potatoes, and cabbage are grown in fields. These are all for the Dublin market.
• In Kildare, boulder clay soils lead to good grassland. Cattle from the North and West are fattened here ( Cattle farming is worth 144m in the North and Western Region and 644m in GDA )
• Boulder clay soils also contain a high calcium content that promotes healthy bone growth in animals. These conditions are perfect for the bloodstock industry and race horses are reared near The Curragh
• The only bad soils are  acidic soils on Wicklow Mountains where infertile peat soils have developed. Agriculture is limited here and the land is used for the grazing of sheep or forestry