The 22nd Macra na Feirme and FBD Young Farmer of the Year final was held virtually on Friday night, streamed live on the Macra Facebook page.

The evening introduced viewers to the four finalists and gave an overview of the farming enterprises they are running.

Macra national president Thomas Duffy thanked all that applied and participated in the competition.

“We were blown away by the volume of applications this year. This is a testament to the quality of our finalists. We would like to thank FBD Insurance, IFA and the NRN for their continued support throughout this competition”.

Awards

The evening saw a number of awards recognising young farmers:

  • Dara Killeen of Galway won the dairy category and the award for the most climate change conscious young farmer.
  • Maighread Barron of Waterford won the land mobility category.
  • Christopher Scally of Roscommon won the dry stock category.
  • Nicola Clarke of Cavan won the other enterprises category.
  • James Kiernan of Cavan won the best emerging young farmer award.
  • David Fogarty of Kilkenny won the best young farm manager award.
  • Joe Melody of Clare was awarded the NRN biodiversity young farmer of the year award.

    • Overall winner

    IFA President Tim Cullinan congratulated all those who took part in this year’s competition.

    “The aim of the competition is to recognise and reward the top young farmers in the country, who are the future of our sector.

    “They are focused on building up their farm enterprises, innovating and participating in climate action. I am confident they will have a major contribution to make in the years to come.”

    The end of the presentation left viewers in anticipation with the overall Young Farmer of the Year to be announced on Saturday morning on RTE Radio1’s Countrywide with Damien O Reilly at 8am.