There are few topics more serious than farm safety, and protecting children from harm is everyone’s first priority.

The news of a grandfather in Wales being prosecuted for taking his grandson in his cab to feed cattle is a sobering reminder. Hundreds of parents and grandparents will be surprised by this ruling, as it’s a scene that plays out regularly on farms.

As grass growth slows in the coming weeks, the daily routine of winter feeding will begin, with silage bales transported by loader to the park for feeding.

For generations, whether in the tractor cab or on a quad bike, children have often helped with these tasks. Multigenerational farms have used work as a way to pass down skills and knowledge. Whether it’s forking out hay bales for sheep in the snow or running minerals over bruised barley in the feed pass, intergenerational work has been integral to family farm operations.

The challenge is: how do we continue this important knowledge exchange, while also improving farm safety? Sadly our industry’s health and safety record lags behind other sectors that are making more progress.

The Health and Safety Executive is clear that a farm is a workplace, and children should not be present while parents are working. They compare the need for caution on farms to a child visiting a building site – there may be educational value in a supervised visit, but you wouldn’t expect kids to be carrying bricks or mixing cement.

Farming is different, however, thanks to its unique blend of family, countryside, and business. Cases like the one in Wales are rare, and there may be more background to the situation than is publicly available.

However, in the eyes of the law, the grandfather was clearly breaking the rules, with no room for flexibility.

The tragic reality is that children are involved in farm accidents, and if the legal rules were followed, the number of injuries would drop – an undeniable fact.

However, the reality is that families will continue to work together. While the days of children operating machinery are likely behind us, it would be a sad day if youngsters were no longer able to help fill water pails for the lambing pens, sweeping the barley shed or throwing tyres when covering the silage pit.

But as modern farms are now using faster, heavier machinery, our approach to safety must evolve. When the steadings are alive with the roar of diesel engines and hydraulics, children should not be nearby.

There is still an opportunity to remain compliant under the rule that allows properly trained, instructed, and supervised older children to help with controlled, low-risk tasks. This is vital for us to be able to pass on the knowledge of how to farm and perhaps further detailed rules could end up tying us up in knots.

No matter the challenges, we must keep children safe on farms while maintaining the family farm’s ability to function. There’s no alternative – safety improvements must be made, but an outright ban would unravel the very thread that binds much of our family farms together.