The Irish Farmers Journal dominated at the recent International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) awards. We came away with the top two awards in the online category at the ceremony, which were held in Bonn, Germany, last Thursday.

Peter Varley, who you will recognise from the sheep and buildings pages, claimed the top prize in the IFAJ-Rabobank Digital Media Award for his multimedia coverage of Sheep Ireland’s pilot laparoscopic AI programme. The judges said the story, which combined text, photos and a step-by-step video of the insemination process, was “an excellent example of sophisticated story telling in the digital medium, which produces a rich experience for audience”.

Our digital editor Thomas Hubert came second for his report on the first Irish-made wind turbine installed on a farm in France.

Elsewhere, Irish Country Living columnist Damien O’Reilly won the radio category for his Countrywide story on same-sex couple Orla Barry and Els Dietvorst, who are visual artists and sheep farmers in Co Wexford