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“You want everyone to be able to go home safely at the end of the night.”
That’s the message from Victorian Farmers Federation vice president Danyel Cucinotta about the Making Our Farms Safer campaign.
Danyel catches up with VFF Podcast host, Tegan Buckley, to shed light on the importance of making changes to safety around the farm, the strong involvement of Victorian farming families and just how well the newly launched Making Our Farm Families Safer campaign has been received.
For Danyel, she’s a third generation farmer with her three-year-old daughter following in her footsteps.
The VFF Making Our Farm Families Safer Guidebook is about having an extra tool in the toolbox to use when it’s needed.
“It’s about starting a conversation around safety on the farm. If we can have farming families sitting down and talking about some of the processes and procedures on their farm with their children, that’s the first step,” Danyel said.
In a collaboration with farming families from across Victoria, some of whom have faced tragedy or are aware of farming accidents within their own community, Danyel said they’ve given hours of their time to get this campaign off the ground.
“This is the first of its kind made by farming families for farming families.”
Danyel said it’s the first time they have sat down with farming families to chat about what everyone is doing on the farm, what are the non-negotiables and question what everyone is doing to prevent injury and harm.
With positive feedback coming from parents and grandparents about the guidebook, Danyel hopes it will help families throughout not only Victoria but other states as well.
“To get that feedback across the board is a take home that’s really special. It’s something we are very proud about,” Danyel said.
“Influencing change is difficult no matter the subject. Influencing cultural changes is even harder…”
Danyel said the campaign wasn’t about telling people how to parent, it was there to create tools and resources that are free to access and readily available.
For parents and children to have the conversation around the kitchen table about safety, make change and allow children to understand while empowering them to make decisions is what it’s all about – but to also make sure everyone gets home safely each and every day.
Listen to this podcast episode by clicking on the link below. You will be redirected to the Victorian Farmers Federation Podcast homepage:
VFF Podcast – Making Our Farm Families Safer series, Episode 1 with Danyel Cucinotta