Who will be the FBD Young Farmer of the Year?
The 20th FBD Young Farmer of the Year will be crowned next Tuesday night (September 11th) at the Castleknock Hotel in Dublin. Organised by Macra na Feirme and supported by the IFA there are six additional awards on offer alongside the main prize in this landmark year for the event. Young farmers involved in sectors such as beef, dairy, sheep and other enterprises (including horticulture, pigs, poultry, tillage) are invited to enter and the winner of each sector will compete to be crowned the 2018 FBD Young Farmer of the Year.
This year there are also new feature awards for the Best Emerging Female Farmer, Best Emerging Male Farmer along with awards in Land Mobility and Farm Collaboration. The Land Mobility Award will focus on farmers who display innovative solutions to accessing and utilising land for farming. The Farm Collaboration Award will focus on collaborative farming arrangements that best demonstrate the benefits of collaborations such as long-term leases, registered partnerships, share farming, share milking and contract rearing for all parties involved. There is also a new Biodiversity award this year supported by the National Rural Network.
Macra na Feirme National President James Healy said: “This is the 20th year of the FBD Young Farmer of the year competition. The longevity and growth in importance of this competition is thanks to the great support of our sponsor FBD, our partner the IFA and the calibre of entrants who make this competition such a prestigious event. This is a great competition and it gives young farmers from all backgrounds an opportunity to showcase the skills and knowledge they have acquired during their career to date. Last year’s winner PJ O’Keeffe has been a brilliant ambassador for the competition and I look forward to greeting his successor next week.
The winner of the 2018 FBD Young Farmer of the Year will receive a travel bursary and the opportunity to experience farm practices abroad, while also developing their skills. As in previous years, all county winners will also receive an award. The winners of each sector will be announced on Tuesday afternoon on the day, and will progress to the final awards taking place that evening from 8pm.