We talk a lot about the sustainability of our food system. Yet nowhere near enough attention is paid to whether the people producing our food can do so safely.
When I was 16, my father was killed in an accident on our family farm during harvest time. Sadly, this is not a unique story in farming. Farming accounts for around 20% of UK workplace deaths, despite making up just 1% of the workforce. With the highest rate of fatal injury, agriculture is one of the UK’s most dangerous industries.
When a farmer is killed or seriously injured, the conversation often turns to what farmers can do differently: slow down, take more care, invest in safer equipment, ask for help.
All of that matters. Farmers have a responsibility to make their businesses as safe as possible. However, if agriculture’s safety record is to improve, the conversation needs to go beyond what individual farmers should do differently and consider the wider pressures shaping decisions on farms.
The realities of farm businesses
It is easy to tell someone to employ another member of staff, replace ageing machinery or stop work when they are exhausted. It is much harder to put that advice into practice when the underlying farm business is barely profitable.
Recently released Scottish government figures put this into perspective. In 2024-25, the average farm in Scotland made just £500 from agricultural activity. The previous year, the figure was a loss of £22,500. Government support payments and income from diversification and off-farm work were therefore critical to the viability of many farm businesses. But these additional income streams can also bring additional workloads and increasing pressure, further stretching the time available to manage farms safely.
Few businesses would consider making almost no return from their core activity economically sustainable. Yet farmers, as largely price-takers, have limited ability to pass rising costs down the supply chain. When margins are so tight, employing additional staff, replacing machinery and investing in safer infrastructure inevitably becomes harder.
We cannot expect farmers to continually do more with less without consequences. Farming is already struggling to attract and retain skilled workers, leaving fewer people to manage demanding workloads and long hours while producing sustainable British food. It raises a difficult question: would you want your own children or family members to build their future in an industry facing such significant pressures and risks?
Creating a safe farming industry
Farmers will always carry responsibility for making their farms safe. However, the conditions in which they are expected to do so are influenced by decisions far beyond the farmgate. Government, retailers, processors and others across the supply chain all have a role in creating an industry where farm businesses have the financial resilience to invest in people, equipment and safer ways of working.
‘Supporting British farmers’ is a familiar message across supermarket shelves – but that support must extend to creating an industry in which farmers can work safely. For retailers and processors, this should include working with farmers to review whether prices, contracts and market expectations enable them to adopt safer ways of working.It could also mean going beyond training courses and instead providing direct support for farm safety improvements.
Ultimately, the safety and wellbeing of those producing our food cannot continue to be overlooked in conversations about sustainability. A truly sustainable food system must be socially sustainable too – and that includes protecting the people it depends on.
Ten years after losing my father, I am building my own future in farming. I want that future to be in an industry where serious injury and death are no longer treated as an inevitable part of producing food.
We rightly ask whether our food is produced in a way that protects animals, nature and the climate. It’s time equal importance is placed on protecting the people producing it.
Anna Wylie is chair of the UK Youth Food and Farming Forum
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