People from farming backgrounds walk faster than any other occupation group, a study of Irish people aged over 50 years old has found.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin studied 5,985 people from a range of backgrounds to examine the relationship between their changing work occupations and physical functionality in later life.

The study, published in the Journals of Gerontology, found that respondents from farming backgrounds walked 0.04m/s faster than any other occupational group.

The study’s authors suggested this could be linked to historic nutritional evidence that children from farming backgrounds had higher intakes of potatoes, milk and eggs.

Other studies have also reported that childhood milk consumption was associated with faster walking speed in later life.

Over on the Irish Farmers Journal Facebook page, we’ve been asking readers how far and how fast they walk during an average working day and the results are impressive.

Daniel O’Reilly told us he walked 21,000 steps in his wellies one day, coppicing hedges for GLAS, while Claire Power’s dairy farming husband Brian clocked up over 190,000 steps in a week.

Oliver McConalogue and Padraig O’Farrell are vying for the top spot so far, having recorded more than 32,000 steps in a single day.

Think you can beat that? Let us know or send screenshots from trackers such as Fitbit to 086 836 6465 on WhatsApp or email readerspics@farmersjournal.ie.