Drinagh Co-op is one of 40 organisations awarded funding recently for farm health and wellbeing projects, where they were granted €39,360 for the ‘Drinagh Sunsafe Initiative’. The cooperative are using the funding, along with a small amount of co-op finance, to provide free factor-50 sunscreen for their farming customers at Drinagh agri branches.
‘It’s about putting one bottle in the tractor, one in the car, one in the parlour’ says Dr Lorna Twomey, agri advisor with Drinagh Co-op.
‘Skin health is quite an issue, and this is about getting into the habit. Farmers are exposed to two or three times more UV than someone who works indoors, so it’s probable that they are more likely to develop skin cancer. Farming is a dangerous occupation in every respect, and in this we’re just trying to do our bit to benefit our people.’
While this may not be an initiative that’s run every year, Dr Twomey says the hope is that farmers and rural workers may get into the sunscreen habit this year, and might develop a habit that becomes second-nature annually.
The funding was part of a pot of €1.68 million announced earlier in July, and the projects are being funded from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s dedicated farm safety budget.
Other projects include €250,000 for the Irish Farmer’s Association ‘Health Checks 2025’ series, and almost €35,500 for the ‘Farmers Have Hearts’ health check programme.
