We catch up with previous winners of the FBD National Farmyard Awards and find out more about their experience in the competition:

Sean Treacy

Tomhaggard, Co Wexford.

Sean has a mixed farm of dairy, beef and tillage near the coast in Co Wexford.

Having entered the competition in 2013 and placing second, Sean’s mother encouraged him to go for the award once more. In 2015, Sean did just that and came home the overall winner for the year.

“It’s just nice to get the recognition for doing all of the work,” says Sean on his experience of the awards.

The Allen Family

Bengour West, Co Cork.

William Allen has taken the helm of the family dairy and chicken farm from his father Nealus in Bengour West, Co Cork.

Nealus read about the National Farmyard Awards in the Irish Farmers Journal back in 2011 and decided to enter their family farm.

William and his family helped in the efforts, which turned out to be a great success as the family took home the overall National Farmyard Award in 2011.

“It’s great to be recognised I think, for all the years of hard work and hard labour that we put into the yard,” says Caroline, William’s wife.

How to enter:

Farmers can nominate themselves for the award, or be nominated by a third party such as a Teagasc adviser, friend, family member, etc.

Three easy steps to enter:

1 Photos

Gather six or more photographs of your farmyard. Each of these should be named and related to the judges' criteria mentioned below.

2 Cover letter

In 200 words, outline why you should win the competition. Include your name, address, email and phone number.

3 Send

Email the photographs and cover letter by 5pm Monday 10th July 2017 to farmyard@farmersjournal.ie or alternatively, post entries to: FBD Insurance Farmyard Competition, Irish Farmers Journal, Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell, Dublin 12.

The judges' marking criteria for the competition is broken down as follows:

1. Farmyard design (20 marks).

2. Farmyard appearance/maintenance/tidiness (30 marks).

3. Health and safety (20 marks).

4. Landscaping/shelter belting/biodiversity (15 marks).

5. Overall impression (15 marks).

*Please note photos and entries will not be returned.