Emma’s on a mission to promote farm safety
QUEEN of the Land and medical student Emma Birchall has made farm safety promotion her mission since her reign began last November.
The 22-year-old UCC student and her Macra club of Kildare drove the Embrace FARM Drive to Remember tractor around the county to highlight the importance of farm safety last Thursday.
Embrace FARM is in the process of sending the tractor on a 32-County Drive to Remember mission to raise awareness of those who died or who have been seriously injured as a result of farm accidents.
When Emma heard of the plan she knew she had to get on board.
“I’m passionate about farm safety so I took it upon myself to help get Kildare Macra involved,” says the Kilcullen native.
“We collected the tractor in Trim on Wednesday night from Cavan Macra, who had it before we did. We brought it to Quinn’s of Naas and had it there for a couple of hours so we’d be able to reach farmers and as many people in the county as possible.
“We went to Newbridge as well, and the Curragh, and stopped at my aunt’s crèche in Kilcullen because she was keen for the children to learn about farm safety as it’s something she would work a lot on.”
Emma says that all ages attended the event and she was delighted that local TDs and councillors from both Kildare constituencies made the effort to support such a worthy cause.
While Emma is entering her fourth year of Medicine, she hopes to present a farm safety project for her fifth and final year of studies in UCC.
“I want to examine A&E records over the last three years at the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore and examine how many were related to farm fatalities and injuries,” she says.
“I also have this theory that more machinery accidents happen in the summer and more livestock in the winter, because animals are inside, so I’d like to examine that further. More data is definitely needed around farm safety.”
Emma adds that in recent times she has become more aware of the dangers of farming.
“My dad is a dairy farmer so they are obviously a high risk group and my granddad still farms. As a young farmer you’d be aware of how technology such as phones and apps can distract farmers and could cause accidents,” she says.
While Emma will be handing over her crown in November, she says meeting President Michael D Higgins and attending a variety of agriculture shows have been her highlights.
For more information on the Embrace FARM 32-County Drive to Remember visit its Facebook page for details.