Man from Moone named Young Beef Farmer of the Year

Thomas O'Connor has landed the prize for Young Beef Farmer of the Year, a hugely prestigious title given out by FBD every year.

The awards ceremony was held in Ballina, Co Mayo last night and despite losing out on the overall farmer of the year award, O'Connor was happy to scoop up the beef equivalent.

Thomas has a beef/suckler enterprise of over 240 acres, a huge farm which he runs in partnership with his parents. He plans on moving away from the tillage and pigs sector and is hoping to expand his suckler herd over the next few years.

In the overall Farmer of the Year catergory, Louth farmer Jonathan Marry was the winner.

Entrants were judged according to a number of criteria including farm business initiative and innovation, levels of farm efficiency and enterprise quality, farm safety and environmental protection awareness, as well as agricultural knowledge and community involvement.