Farm Safety Stars – empower your kids to stay safe on farm

The Farmers Weekly and Irish initiative AgriKids are wrapping up the four-month campaign, Farm Safety Stars, which inspires children living on farms and in rural areas to become ambassadors for farm safety.

Designed for children up to 13 years old, the campaign features interactive worksheets that tackle the dangers of heavy machinery, animals, and other common farm hazards.

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These worksheets have been completed by farming families over the past few months, helping youngsters understand how to stay safe and grow into responsible, safety-conscious farmers.

The worksheets are still available to download on FW’s Farm Safety Stars website.

The collaboration between Farmers Weekly and AgriKids has been a major step forward in spreading farm safety awareness throughout rural communities.

AgriKids was founded in 2014 by County Meath farmer Alma Jordan after a tragic year in which 32 people, including five children, lost their lives on Irish farms.

“I realised how dangerous the environments in which we raise our kids can be, so I became proactive,” she explains.

Promoting safety

Alma’s goal has been to educate children about farm safety and encourage them to share that knowledge with their families, creating a culture of safety across farming communities.

She emphasises that farm safety education is a shared responsibility and that children play a crucial role in promoting safer practices at home.

Reflecting on the campaign’s success, Alma says: “Having the worksheets in the magazine has raised a lot of conversation and interest; I have received a lot of really great feedback.

“Different farming groups and companies have reached out to me asking for worksheets and workshops. It’s been tremendously heartwarming to see such a positive response.”

She adds: “There’s been more talk about young farm safety than ever before, and we’re reaching more farming communities.

“We’ve definitely sparked an appetite in the UK farming community for a child-focused approach to safety.”

The collaboration has proven to be a real success, with strong enthusiasm from farming groups across the UK.

Many have been quick to request activity sheets from Alma after spotting them in Farmers Weekly, and the resources are now being used in homes and at agricultural events from Scotland to the South West.

Alma describes the response as “amazing”, and says it marks real progress in early years farm safety education.Campaign ambassador

Over the past few months, Farmers Weekly has received photos of young safety stars completing their worksheets, one of them being six-year-old Freddie Treharne, who’s become a keen ambassador for staying safe on the farm.

Freddie, Alison and David Treharne © Alison Treharne

Living on a family farm between Northampton and Towcester, Freddie has been learning about farm safety through the weekly worksheets, sparking family discussions and curiosity.

Freddie is part of a three-generation farming family who are farm safety advocates.

Already a keen “carpet farmer” with an impressive collection of toy tractors and Lego sheds, Freddie is deeply interested in farming and eager to learn everything about the family business.

Freddie Treharne © Alison Treharne

A key part of Freddie’s learning has come from completing the Farm Safety Stars worksheets.

His mother Alison says they have been a valuable tool in teaching Freddie about important topics.

“We sit and look at them throughout the week together. He has enjoyed getting them, especially looking at the pictures and learning about slurry and dairy cows,” she says.

The worksheets have encouraged Freddie to ask questions, leading to broader conversations about farming and safety.

“The information feeds into a bigger conversation at home,” Alison says.

“It gets my brain going when he asks questions about the worksheets and I have to work out different ways to explain things to a six-year-old.

“Safety on farm is just part of life. Without making sure what you are doing is safe, you are going to end up in trouble.”

Alison believes that teaching children about safety early on helps doing things safely become “second nature” and not a chore.

“If kids are learning and bringing information home then the parents might learn a thing or two,”  she adds.

Freddie is already deeply passionate about farming and speaks with confidence about following in the family tradition.

“I know he’s only six, but at the moment he is 100% sure he wants to be a farmer when he’s older, so it’s really important that we begin teaching him to become a safe one,” says Alison.