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PJ O’Keeffe (31) from the Callan Macra na Feirme club in Co Kilkenny has been chosen as the winner of the 2017 FBD Young Farmer of the Year.
O’Keeffe, a dairy farmer, took over the running of the family farm in 2015, growing the herd from 72 cows to 200 initially.
He has since expanded further and in 2017 he milked 430 cows.
This has been achieved while expanding the land base from 106ha to 198ha.
O’Keeffe has been working on the farm for the past 10 years and achieved the Green Cert from Kildalton agricultural college.
The judging panel remarked how O’Keeffe had expanded his holding to such extent while achieving very high levels of performance in the herd.
The award was presented at a ceremony in Breaffy House Hotel in Co Mayo.
The judging panel, which was led by Dr Karina Pierce of UCD, was comprised of Irish Farmers Journal livestock specialist Darren Carty, agricultural consultant Breian Carroll, IFAC chief executive John O’Donoghue and former Macra na Feirme president and Co Wicklow dairy farmer Thomas Honner.
The Irish Farmers Journal will have an in-depth interview with PJ in this week’s edition.
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