From the editor: "It is revealed that 34 people lost their lives on UK farms in the past year. That is 34 families whose lives have been changed forever"

The news that once again farming's safety record remains worse than any other industry will come as no surprise.

As the sector marks Farm Safety Week, it is revealed that 34 people lost their lives on UK farms in the past year alone. That is 34 families whose lives have been changed forever.

Two of the four members of the public killed on-farm were children. That figure also does not tell the full story of the near misses or life-changing injuries.

It feels like everyone in agriculture has a tale to tell or knows someone who has had an incident on-farm.

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With long hours over harvest and the pressures farms are facing, from prices not covering costs of production to labour challenges and the mental health crisis in the sector, it is easy to see why it can be tempting to cut corners on health and safety.

And as Joshua Morland says in his article this week, while you may have ‘got away with it' multiple times before, it only takes one occasion for something to go badly wrong.

It feels like every year, when the latest figures are released, the industry says the same thing about how terrible the tragedies are, but the culture change needed still does not come.

While the figure has steadily decreased since the advent of Farm Safety Week, the Farm Safety Foundation has said not only does a transformational change need to come, but it needs to come quickly.

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Health and safety can often feel like something being imposed, a box-ticking exercise. Many farms will not make a record of ‘near misses'. But noting what happened and why, as well as changing processes, can help avoid that incident.

The figure may unfortunately never reach zero, but whether farmers are taking risks due to complacency, having always done something this way or feeling like there is not enough time to do things the right way, it is time for real change in agriculture. Nothing is more important than you coming home safe.