Mr Tom Parlon, who will represent the majority of Irish farmers over the next four years, is the youngest man to be elected to the post.
He is 44 and married with five children. He lives with his wife, Martha, on their 200-acre farm, half of which is rented, at Coolderry, in south Offaly.
Mr Parlon, who has lived and worked abroad, has a history of militancy in the IFA. He organised the ill-fated protest when sheep were driven into the lobby of the Department of Agriculture in 1992. The reaction to the protest from the Department's unions and the animal welfare lobby caused some embarrassment to the IFA.
The first non-dairy farmer to head the organisation has a 240sow unit and runs sheep and suckler cows.
His deputy, Mr John Dillon, is also a militant and lives on his 120-acre farm at Pallasgreen, Co Limerick, where he is involved in suckler cow and sheep production. He and his wife, Essie, have nine children.
Following his election, Mr Dillon said he will be guided, as always, by the "voice of the grassroots and not the men in good suits".