Cavan's Christopher Cahill is crowned the FBD Young Farmer of the Year 2024

Christopher Cahill from County Cavan has been named the 2024 FBD Young Farmer of the Year.

Christopher is a 30-year-old dairy farmer and a graduate of the Sustainable Agriculture Master’s degree from UCD.

He entered a share farming arrangement in 2021 in County Meath with the assistance of the Macra Land Mobility Service and has since expanded the dairy enterprise from 110 cows to 250 crossbred cows.

Christopher has also been named category award winner for Land Mobility.

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Along with farming Christopher also owns Cavan Grassland Consultancy Ltd, a grass measurement and management service provider across the north midlands area. 

The evening also saw a number of additional category winners: 

• David Melody originally from Clare but farming in Kilkenny was named Runner Up and won the Career Farm Management category. 
• Sarah Kelly of Sligo was named Best Young Entrant. 
• Martin O’Reilly of Laois was named the winner of the Dairy category and also won the Macra Agricultural Skillnet Biodiversity Young Farmer of the Year award. 
• Jamie Hannon of Sligo was named the Drystock category winner. 
• Séamus Leahy won the Other Enterprises category 

This year marks the 26th anniversary of the FBD Young Farmer of the Year Awards which were held at the Heritage hotel in Laois. Christopher Cahill, the 2024 winner of the award was present at the awards ceremony and addressed the crowd. 

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Elaine Houlihan, Macra National President said, ‘the FBD Young Farmer of the Year Awards recognises and celebrates the talent, dedication and hard work of young farmers across Ireland since its inception over 26 years ago and has always showcased the very best of Irish farming. Tonight’s winner Christopher Cahill really demonstrates the talent of Ireland’s young farmers. In fact, all of the finalists here tonight, highlight the best and the brightest in the industry.  Congratulations to Christopher and all of tonight’s winners. We thank FBD for sponsoring these awards for the last 26 years and the IFA for their partnership. It is our young farmers who are the future of farming in this country and these awards ensure that the future of farming has its night in the spotlight.’  

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‘On behalf of the entire FBD team, I extend our congratulations to Christopher Cahill on this well-deserved recognition. The FBD Young Farmer of the Year award is a reflection of Christopher’s unwavering dedication, passion, and hard work. FBD Insurance is proud to maintain our long-standing partnership with Macra na Feirme and the FBD Young Farmer of the Year Awards. We take great pride in supporting initiatives that celebrate the remarkable achievements of young farmers and their vital contributions to the farming community. We hope these awards will continue to inspire the next generation to build strong, sustainable farm businesses for the future’ said Tomás Ó'Midheach, CEO, FBD Insurance. 

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IFA President Francie Gorman said the energy and vision shown by the entrants to the FBD Young Farmer of the Year Awards is very encouraging for the future. Congratulations to the winner Christopher Cahill. “There is a wealth of talent in farming and we’re delighted to be part of this competition with Macra. I hope those who took part will consider a leadership role in the future. They are already very accomplished with their own farm enterprise. From here, we would like to see them contribute outside the farmgate. It’s very rewarding and it’s an opportunity to shape the future for their families and their communities.” 

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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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