In Northern Ireland, the law dictates that from the age of 13 any child who wishes to drive a tractor engaged in agricultural activities on private land in Northern Ireland must successfully obtain a certificate of competence in tractor driving.

Now, with the school holidays just around the corner, many of the younger family members will be helping out with the day-to-day tasks on the farm.

CAFRE is again running its popular tractor driving courses aimed at 13- to 15-year-olds, in order to improve safety on farms.

The cost of the course is £150 and focuses on areas such as personal safety, observation, general safety and pre-start checks.

It also addresses the hitching and unhitching of implements, manoeuvring with trailed and mounted implements, and load safety and legislation.

The three-day courses will be run throughout July and August at Greenmount Campus in Antrim, Loughry Campus in Cookstown and Enniskillen Campus in Enniskillen.

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