The announcement was made at a ceremony on Bantry, Co Cork.

The 33-year-old is milking 110 cows but plans to expand his enterprise to 150 cows.

He faced off competition from 200 nominees and now receives a €3,000 travel bursary to undertake international travel and study farm practices.

The judging panel for this year’s competition consisted of Michael Berkery, Chairman of FBD, Dr. Karina Pierce, UCD; Willie Fahey, IFAC Accountants; Pat O’ Toole, Irish Farmers Journal and Dr. Edward O’Riordan, Head of Teagasc Grange Beef Research Centre.

The FBD Young Farmer of the Year is run by Macra na Feirme in partnership with the IFA. 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, as well as agricultural knowledge and community involvement.

See this week's Irish Farmers Journal for a full interview with Sean O'Donnell.