Don Somers wins the Teagasc/ FBD Environmental Sustainability Award 2025

 

The awards, kindly sponsored by FBD, were presented by Timmy Dooley TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

The awards, with a total prize fund of €30,000, were presented to 6 category winners: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions; Enhancing biodiversity; Improving water quality; Improving soil health; Organic production; and diversification.

The overall winner, Don Somers is tillage farming at Oylgate, County Wexford.  Working alongside his uncle Jim, Don manages 183 hectares with a diverse crop rotation of oilseed rape, winter wheat, winter barley, spring barley, spring oats and some combi crop of peas and beans.  There is a focus on soil health, water quality, biodiversity, and reducing chemical inputs through crop rotation, organic manures, and precision technology on this farm. The judges praised his clear understanding of sustainable farming, innovative use of modern tools, and a proactive approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting the River Slaney and local biodiversity.

Speaking at the awards, Minister of State Timmy Dooley congratulated all the finalists in the awards saying; “you are a great example of what farmers, as custodians of the land, do to protect and enhance the environment.  I’m impressed by the standard of the finalists, and the efforts being made by these farm families to address the environmental challenge while continuing to produce high quality food.”

On behalf of the overall sponsor of the awards, Michael Berkery of FBD said; “Congratulations to Don Somers and all the finalists; each an outstanding example of how environmentally conscious farming can be effectively integrated with profitable, productive systems. It’s inspiring to see such strong representation from across the sectors, demonstrating real leadership in sustainable agriculture. At FBD, we are proud to support these awards and to help recognise the farmers who are driving meaningful progress in this space. We wish all this year’s entrants continued success in their future endeavours.”

Professor Frank O’Mara, Director of Teagasc said; “Don Somers is a worthy winner for this award, operating a profitable farm system while at the same time protecting the environment around his farm.  Each finalist in this awards programme should be very proud of the contribution they are making to environmental sustainability while continuing to produce high quality food for the consumer here and abroad.  The industry has made progress and Teagasc will continue to work with farmers to further improve environmental sustainability.  The agri sector needs all farmers and all involved in the sector to firmly focus on improving water quality, reducing emissions, and enhancing biodiversity as a key part of the journey to a more competitive and resilient sector.

The award winners in each category of the Teagasc / FBD Environmental Sustainability Awards were:

• Patrick and Margaret Dollard, Kilkenny (Dairy beef) – Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• Tom Tierney, Kildare (Tillage) – Enhancing biodiversity
• Don Somers, Wexford (Tillage) – Improving water quality
• Conor O’Brien, Galway (Dairy) – Improving soil health
• Kay O’Sullivan, Cork (Organic Beef & Sheep) – Organic production
• Emer O’Keeffe, Cork (Organic Beef & Sheep) – Diversification

 

The other finalists who attended the awards and received a certificate were:

• James Madigan, County Kilkenny
• Keith & Brian Meredith, County Kildare
• David Kerr, County Laois
• Mark Lonergan, County Tipperary
• P. Hammersley, County Tipperary
• John O’Connell, County Leitrim
• Olivia Hynes, County Roscommon

 

Find out more about the overall award winner, Don Somers, and the other winners and finalists here

Watch the short clip below to find out more about Don and his farming enterprise