With a top prize of €1,000 and two €500 prizes on offer in our #makeonechange safety competition, we’ve had a great response from farmers who want to showcase the farm safety changes they are making on their farms.
Farmers are being asked to enter by taking a picture of the farm safety change they have made on their farm and entering the photo into our competition.
The idea behind the competition is that if we can encourage small changes on thousands of farms across the country next week, we will make our farms safer and in turn keep our families safe.
We’ve kept it as simple as we can, so it’s over to everybody to get snapping and get your entries in before Tuesday 3 August at 5pm at www.ifj.ie/onechange or by using the form below.
Calving gate
Gary Kennedy, calving gate.
Gary Kennedy has recently upgraded his handling facilities for calving time in Eyrecourt, Co Galway.
The calving gate now has a smaller attached in case he ever needs to perform a C-section on a cow.
The smaller gates allows easy access to the cow’s side, while keeping her safely restrained for the vet to work on.
Hygiene upgrade
Lindsay Ferry, washing up area.
Lindsay Ferry from Magheradrumman, Co Donegal, sent us in this photograph of her farm safety upgrade for lambing time.
She installed a hot water sink with soap and towel inside the shed and close to the lambing pens to help protect the sheep and lambs from cross-infection, and for year-round hand hygiene.
Lindsay Ferry, farm entrance.
Lindsay also rebuilt a new wall and gate at the farm entrance, which is now set back from the road so it's safer for vehicles exiting, as the farmyard is on a hill and the entrance was in a blind spot.
Hitch adjustment
Trevor Jones, hitch adjustment
Trevor Jones from Rathvilly sent us in this example of how he has made his tractor safer.
“The roller came off the tractor twice in the spring rolling fields with both my father and I,” he explained to the Irish Farmers Journal,” he wrote.
"Before going to draw bales, we welded a piece on to the hitch to close the gap from 40mm down to 20mm so it cannot happen again.”
Calving pen
Declan O'Regan, calving pen.
Declan O’Regan from Shanballymore, Co Cork, is another to upgrade his handling facilities.
He installed a new calving pen with handling crush with access on all sides and removable for easy access, as shown in his photo.
“The second area of improvement I made was a bull pen with self-locking head rail and an escape corner to stand behind,” he said.
Tractor mirrors
Kieran McGovern, tractor mirrors.
Kieran McGovern from Co Cavan sent on his farm safety tip involving mirrors.
“I removed the old mirrors of the tractor and replaced them with larger new double mirrors, which has a convex mirror on the bottom that gives a view around the blind spots beside the back wheels, which the original mirrors could not do,” McGovern told the Irish Farmers Journal.
The total cost was €260, but the benefit will be invaluable.
Backing bar
Noel Clancy, backing bar.
Noel Clancy from Drangan, Co Tipperary, sent in his handy tip for a crush.
“This device is very simple but effective and stops a cow reversing onto the AI technician without any need to bail or clamp the cow's head,” he explained.
Ladder
Padraic Condron, ladder steps.
Padraic Condron from Tullamore, Co Offaly showed us how he can check cattle and feed in the yard while minimising how close he has to get to them.
“A simple but very safe ladder allows me to go from one feeding trough to another with meal without having to walk among the cattle and so reduces risk of injury,” he explained.
With a top prize of €1,000 and two €500 prizes on offer in our #makeonechange safety competition, we’ve had a great response from farmers who want to showcase the farm safety changes they are making on their farms.
Farmers are being asked to enter by taking a picture of the farm safety change they have made on their farm and entering the photo into our competition.
The idea behind the competition is that if we can encourage small changes on thousands of farms across the country next week, we will make our farms safer and in turn keep our families safe.
We’ve kept it as simple as we can, so it’s over to everybody to get snapping and get your entries in before Tuesday 3 August at 5pm at www.ifj.ie/onechange or by using the form below.
Calving gate
Gary Kennedy, calving gate.
Gary Kennedy has recently upgraded his handling facilities for calving time in Eyrecourt, Co Galway.
The calving gate now has a smaller attached in case he ever needs to perform a C-section on a cow.
The smaller gates allows easy access to the cow’s side, while keeping her safely restrained for the vet to work on.
Hygiene upgrade
Lindsay Ferry, washing up area.
Lindsay Ferry from Magheradrumman, Co Donegal, sent us in this photograph of her farm safety upgrade for lambing time.
She installed a hot water sink with soap and towel inside the shed and close to the lambing pens to help protect the sheep and lambs from cross-infection, and for year-round hand hygiene.
Lindsay Ferry, farm entrance.
Lindsay also rebuilt a new wall and gate at the farm entrance, which is now set back from the road so it's safer for vehicles exiting, as the farmyard is on a hill and the entrance was in a blind spot.
Hitch adjustment
Trevor Jones, hitch adjustment
Trevor Jones from Rathvilly sent us in this example of how he has made his tractor safer.
“The roller came off the tractor twice in the spring rolling fields with both my father and I,” he explained to the Irish Farmers Journal,” he wrote.
"Before going to draw bales, we welded a piece on to the hitch to close the gap from 40mm down to 20mm so it cannot happen again.”
Calving pen
Declan O'Regan, calving pen.
Declan O’Regan from Shanballymore, Co Cork, is another to upgrade his handling facilities.
He installed a new calving pen with handling crush with access on all sides and removable for easy access, as shown in his photo.
“The second area of improvement I made was a bull pen with self-locking head rail and an escape corner to stand behind,” he said.
Tractor mirrors
Kieran McGovern, tractor mirrors.
Kieran McGovern from Co Cavan sent on his farm safety tip involving mirrors.
“I removed the old mirrors of the tractor and replaced them with larger new double mirrors, which has a convex mirror on the bottom that gives a view around the blind spots beside the back wheels, which the original mirrors could not do,” McGovern told the Irish Farmers Journal.
The total cost was €260, but the benefit will be invaluable.
Backing bar
Noel Clancy, backing bar.
Noel Clancy from Drangan, Co Tipperary, sent in his handy tip for a crush.
“This device is very simple but effective and stops a cow reversing onto the AI technician without any need to bail or clamp the cow's head,” he explained.
Ladder
Padraic Condron, ladder steps.
Padraic Condron from Tullamore, Co Offaly showed us how he can check cattle and feed in the yard while minimising how close he has to get to them.
“A simple but very safe ladder allows me to go from one feeding trough to another with meal without having to walk among the cattle and so reduces risk of injury,” he explained.
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