Dwayne Shiels, a pedigree sheep farmer from Letterkenny, County Donegal, has been named as the 2023 FBD Young Farmer of the Year.
Dwayne, a lecturer in agricultural sciences at Atlantic Technological University, Donegal, was also named a category award winner for Land Mobility at an awards ceremony in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Sligo this evening (Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023).
The news comes just weeks after his successful Luscious Ladies timed virtual auction, which you can read about via this link and setting a new breed record price for a Dutch Spotted in Ireland, with a €6,700 ram lamb.
Woodtown Gangnam Style sold to across the waters to the UK, at the breed association’s premier sale in Carrick-on-Shannon on Saturday, August 5th, 2023.
Along with his brother, Gerard, the duo has had 56 different sheep pick up a rosette on the show circuit this summer.
Other award winners
The evening also saw a number of additional category winners:
- Patrick Egan of Mayo was named runner up and the winner of the Drystock category;
- Stephen O Keeffe of Limerick won best new entrant
- Philip Tallon of Meath won other enterprises category
- Sean Kelly of Tipperary won the dairy category
- Conor Doran of Wexford won the biodiversity young farmer of the year award.
Marty Morrissey, who was the evening’s Master of Ceremonies, entertained the crowd and the past winners in attendance were invited on stage to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the awards, sponsored by FBD Insurance and the IFA.
Elaine Houlihan, Macra national president described Shiels, as “a shining example of the talent of Ireland’s young farmers”.
The aim of the competition is to recognise and reward the top young farmers in the country.
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, and agricultural knowledge.
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