Christopher Tuffy was named the 2022 FBD Young Farmer of the Year on Tuesday 29 November. Christopher said that he is “over the moon to win the FBD Young Farmer of the Year.”

“It’s an absolute honour to be the first person from Sligo to win the prestigious award – it’s great to be able to bring the award back to the north-west.

“This is something I have always wanted to win since I first applied for the competition 10 years ago. I am absolutely delighted I came back this year and thrilled to have won.”

Christopher is a spring-calving dairy farmer from Co Sligo. He milks the cows on a leased block in north Sligo of 150ac. His father rears heifers and calves on the home farm in Enniscrone, Co Sligo.

They try to keep the system as simple as possible and aim to always produce as many kilos of milk solids from grass as possible with as high as possible fat and protein percentage.

Their spring-calving system grows 14t of grass which produces 500 kilos of milk solids. Christopher commented that they have a “strong focus on herd fertility” on the farm.

We asked Christopher why shining a light on dairy farming and supporting the industry in Ireland is important to him.

He said: “Every time you see agriculture or dairy farming mentioned in mainstream media, it’s something negative and we’re all being portrayed in a negative light. It would be great to show the opposite to that.

“To show all the good things that dairy farmers, like myself, are doing. How we’re trying to meet the climate problems head on and how we’re being proactive about the emissions we’re producing. It’s very important that we maintain stock numbers at the current level, as if we don’t, there’ll be no future for young farmers in Irish agriculture.”

Farm safety

Christopher also went on to mention how farm safety is very important to him on the farm: “Farm safety is massively important, first and foremost for us, and we have people who do relief milking for us and work with us on the farm, so it’s very important to us that we create a safe environment for everyone to work in.

“Of course, I have small baby boy, Iarlaith, who is six months old, so as he gets older, we need to ensure that when he comes out on the farm, that it is as safe an environment as possible so that he can enjoy growing up on a farm.”

Future plans

Going forward, Christopher plans to “continue driving efficiencies on the farm, to continue to try and increase our kilos of milk solids output and to produce more per cow every year. Our biggest aim is to increase the percentage of clover on the farm, so that 50% of the paddocks on-farm will have clover in them, which in turn reduce our nitrogen bill and nitrogen usage.”

Tomás Ó’Midheach, CEO of FBD Insurance, commented on the win, saying: “On behalf of the team at FBD, I would like to extend our congratulations to Christopher Tuffy. This award is very well deserved, it is a testament to Christopher’s hard work, passion and dedication. FBD Insurance is proud to partner with FBD Trust to continue our long-standing relationship with Macra and the FBD Young Farmer of the Year Awards.

“We are proud to support awards which celebrate the achievements of our young farmers and their contribution to farming. We wish Christopher and all who took part in the competition every success in the future”.

From all staff and members of Macra, we would also like to congratulate Christopher and his family on winning this year’s FBD Young Farmer of the Year competition.

We were delighted to see him come back and enter the competition again this year. He really embodies what the award is all about and we wish him all the best and success in the future – Congratulations Christopher!