Ulster North/Leinster vice president Raymond O'Malley was running a close second to Irish Farmers Association (IFA) treasurer, Padraig Walshe as counting in the election to become IFA president passed the midway point this afternoon.
At 3.45 pm Mr Walshe had 554 votes; Mr O'Malley had 492 votes with the other candidate, IFA vice president Ruaidhri Deasy third with 338 votes.
Counting began this morning ending the month-long campaign to succeed outgoing president John Dillon as head of an organisation with 85,000 members. Mr Dillon is stepping down at the end of his four-year term next January.
Outgoing IFA president John Dillon
Voting in the election finished last Friday, when all 946 branches in the 29 IFA County Executives had cast their ballots. At the time of writing, votes from 691 branches had been counted.
In the two-candidate race for deputy president, Derek Deane from Co Carlow had 945 votes ahead of Donal Kelly from Co Cork on 402.
A new voting system operated in this election with weighted branch voting giving extra votes to those branches with high turnouts.
IFA National Returning Officer Seamus O'Brien said: "IFA members responded to the new voting system with enthusiasm and there are reports of high turnouts all over the country."
The new president, who will be the 12th in the IFA's history, is to take over the office at the annual general meeting on January 17th, 2006.
By far the greatest challenge facing the incoming president is reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which will see export subsidies for farmers gradually phased out by 2013.
The deal to reduce CAP payments was reached at the World Trade Organisastion (WTO) summit in Hong Kong at the weekend. Greater access to Western markets for agricultural products from the developing world is also part of the deal putting further pressure on hard-pressed Irish farmers.
Today, the IFA livestock chairman John Bryan condemned the proposal from the EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fisher Boel to eliminate EU exports of live cattle.
Mr Bryan said ending live exports was connected to the WTO agreement and he called on Minister for Agricuture Mary Coughlan to block the Commission's proposals.
Mr Bryan said: "the international live export trade out of Ireland was regulated to the highest standards in the world by veterinary surgeons from the Department of Agriculture. The Brazilians and South Americans who stand to take this market as a result of Commissioner Fisher Boel's move do not operate to the same standards."