A FEMALE-ONLY trailer skills and safety workshop is set to take place in Shannon next month as part of the International Year of the Female Farmer.
Nugent Trailers in Shannon will host the event on Thursday, September 3, with both morning and evening sessions available.
The workshop will feature a number of guest speakers, including Carina Roseingrave, who runs Burren View Farm with her brother Gerry and is Ireland’s ambassador for women in agriculture this year.
A representative from An Garda Síochána will also speak about farm safety and security, which Catherine Nugent of Nugent Trailers said was “unfortunately a huge problem now”.
“We’d like to celebrate that here and we’re going to have a few guest speakers,” she said.
Catherine said the event was aimed at helping the next generation of farmers and others working with agricultural machinery build confidence and develop practical skills.
“The idea of this event is to let the next generation of young farmers, the young people that are handling the machinery, learn from the bottom up – learn how to hook it on properly and safely, learn how to maintain it, learn what to look out for,” she said.
“We’re also going to go into loading, which is a huge safety risk.”
The workshop will also cover trailer maintenance and ways of extending the working life of trailers.
Grace Burrows from Nugent Agri will give a presentation on the benefits of cattle crushes and the safe handling of cattle.
Catherine said the event was also aimed at young people working in sectors such as motor factors and hardware stores where experience with towing a trailer may be required.
“They just want a little bit of confidence and education on how to maintain and check their trailer,” she said.
The event is open to women and girls of all ages and experience levels.
Registration is free, with places available for both the morning and evening sessions.
Tickets are available through Eventbrite.
