The finalists for the Teagasc FBD Environmental Sustainability Awards 2026 have been announced.

The awards celebrate farmers across Ireland who are taking practical actions to improve the environmental sustainability of their farms, while continuing to produce good food profitably. 

This year’s finalists are being recognised for their commitment to areas including greenhouse gas emissions reduction, improving water quality, enhancing biodiversity, improving soil health and farming with innovation.  

Teagasc said the standard of entries was "exceptionally high", with farmers demonstrating a wide range of innovative and practical approaches to improving the environmental performance of their farms.

2026 finalists

All the finalists have been outlined below.

Thomas and Peter O’Hanrahan are farming 95ha, including 5ha of forestry, operating a dairy-beef system in Co. Kilkenny.

Co. Cork's John McSweeney is farming 28ha including 4ha of spring barley with a 25-cow spring calving suckler herd.

Co. Tipperary tillage farmer Maurice Deasy has moved from intensive malting barley production to conservation agriculture.

Co. Cork's Philip O'Leary and Aileen Sheehan have an 89ha grass-based spring calving dairy farm milking 140 cows.

Organic tillage farmer Matt Hennessy's Co. Tipperary farm has undergone a major transition to a fully organic tillage system, converting in 2021.

Co. Kerry farmer Michael Gleeson farms organically, operating a 25-cow Kerry suckler herd.

Also from Co. Kerry, dairy farmer William Dennehy has a high-EBI, compact spring calving herd.

Aonghusa Fahy's 59ha suckler farm, split between Co. Galway and Co. Clare, runs 30 cows.

Patrick and Kayleigh Durkin run Glendara Farm in Co. Kildare, a third-generation, pasture-based dairy enterprise milking 171 cows across 101ha.

Alan McCann runs a fourth-generation family horticultural business producing over five million heads of lettuce annually across 8.6ha of fully protected greenhouses in Co. Dublin.

'Diverse range'

Teagasc said the finalists "represent a diverse range of Irish farming systems and demonstrate that there is no single approach to improving environmental sustainability".

Their work includes actions like reducing reliance on chemical nitrogen, improving nutrient use efficiency, enhancing biodiversity through better hedgerow management and planting trees and new hedges.

Other actions include improving soil fertility, more sustainable breeding practices, best use of the decision support tools available to them and many other actions.

The overall winner will be announced at an event in Co. Laois on Thursday, October 1, alongside the winners of the individual award categories and special recognition awards.