Farm safety, health and wellbeing projects to receive €1.18m funding

The Department of Agriculture has announced that 46 farm safety, health and wellbeing spread across the country will receive €1.18m in funding

Projects include farmer health and wellbeing checks, livestock handling training, and tractor driving safety awareness training for children 14 years of age and older.

The funding of 46 farm safety, health and wellbeing projects amounting to €1.18m has been announced.

Among the 46 projects, farmer health and wellbeing checks, livestock handling training, and tractor driving safety awareness training for children 14 years of age and older were selected to help address farming’s poor safety record, while also supporting farmer health and wellbeing.

Announcing the funding, agriculture minister Martin Heydon said: “I am delighted to make this significant investment, which builds on the success of the open call over the last two years in driving improvements in key safety risks on farms and promoting farmer health and wellbeing.” 

The funding is being delivered through the Open Call for Farm Safety, Health and Wellbeing Projects, which was open to applications earlier this year. This competitive call saw a high volume of applications from across the country.

Mr Heydon said: “The farmer's physical and mental health checks have proven to be very successful over the past two years, with over 5,700 farmer health checks completed since August 2024.

"This year, to ensure farmers maximise the benefits of their health checks, I am funding behaviour change follow-up conversations facilitated by health professionals. Where appropriate, farmers who avail of health checks will be offered tailored follow-up supports to encourage them to take the appropriate steps to protect their health.” 

Mr Heydon said he was “pleased with the success” of previous open calls, with more than 400 children aged 14 years or older completing tractor driving safety awareness training, and the delivery of livestock handling training to more than 400 farmers, with machinery and livestock being two of the leading causes of fatal accidents on farms.

The projects are being funded from the department’s dedicated farm safety budget. Successful projects under the call cover one or more of the following themes: farm safety; farmers’ physical health; farmers’ mental health and wellbeing; farmers’ physical and mental health checks; vision checks; supporting older farmers; tractor driving safety awareness training for children 14 years of age and older; chainsaw training for farmers; and working at height for farmers.