The event, organised by the Cornwall Federation of Young Farmers (YFC) and supported by Cornish Mutual as part of the rural insurer’s ‘FarmSafe’ campaign, took place on Saturday 26 May at Penvercoe Farm near Bodmin.
Teams entering the contest were tested on their machinery maintenance and teamwork skills and had to carry out tasks including maintenance checks on tractors and fertilizer spreaders, attaching spreaders, sprayers and power harrows to the tractors and give a practical demonstration around first aid.
The ‘Efficiency with Safety’ competition was won by the Liskeard Young Farmers Club, who were presented with the Peter Richards Memorial Cup by one of Cornish Mutual’s local insurance inspectors for Cornwall Dave Bersey.
Dave Bersey (pictured with the winners) said: “Health and safety on the farm is vitally important, as agriculture has the worst record for deaths and serious injuries compared to all other industries in the UK. According to figures from the HSE, there were eight fatalities in the South West alone in 2010/11. Cornwall’s young farmers are the future of the industry, and it was great to see them displaying such knowledge and skill when it comes to safety. It was a very close result, but I was delighted to hand the trophy over to the team from Liskeard, who performed excellently in all of the challenges.”
Cornish Mutual has sponsored the Cornwall Federation of Young Farmers Clubs for a more than 50 years, helping to provide skills training and promote recruitment.
The rural insurance firm, which is based in Truro, launched the ‘FarmSafe’ campaign earlier this year to raise awareness of health and safety issues and reduce the number of deaths and injuries on farms in Cornwall and the South West.
Katherine Spencer, County Organiser for Cornwall Federation of Young Farmers Clubs added: “The ‘Efficiency with Safety’ competition is a national competition that is run every few years, but we think it is one of the most important things for young farmers to understand, so we run our own competition every year. We are very grateful to Cornish Mutual for funding the event and helping to raise awareness of the very serious issue of farm safety.”
As well as supporting Cornwall Young Farmers, Cornish Mutual is also involved with Young Farmers across Dorset, Devon and Somerset. For more information about Cornish Mutual visit www.cornishmutual.co.uk
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