Birr farming sisters fly the flag for offaly

Two Birr sisters made it through to the latter rounds of FBD Young Farmer of the Year competition.

Angela and Kate Ryan have qualified for the national finals of the competition in the organic and sheep sectors.

For the first time the county finals of the competition have been broken up into different enterprise sectors: beef, dairy, tillage, 'other' (which includes organic) and sheep.

While the Ryan sisters made it through the beef and 'other' sectors, the county were also represented at the nationals by Kevin Breen from Kilcormac (dairy sector) and Chris Gettings from Colehill, who made it through in the beef sector.

The four young farmers recently competed against counterparts from across the country for a place in the final six. The six finalist will be named at a lunch in the Twin Trees Hotel in Ballina on September 1 and they will then undergo final interviews later that afternoon. The overall winner will be announced at a banquet in the hotel that evening.

The aim of this prestigious competition is to recognise and reward the top young farmers in the country. The competition is kindly supported by FBD Insurance. Entrants are 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.

Prizes will be awarded in all farm sectors, dairy, beef, sheep, tillage and other (poultry, pigs, etc) as well as the prestigious overall prize of a travel bursary and title of FBD Young Farmer of the Year 2015.