Moray farmer Jock Gibson was in the middle of calving when it happened.
He was tired after a long day and looking forward to getting back to his wife, Fiona, and their three children in the farmhouse.
But a protective cow, worried about its new offspring, had other ideas.
Mr Gibson, 44, went to check on a newborn after seeing another calf standing on it.
He used his foot to clear straw off the younger calf and then bent down for a closer look.
In a flash, the mother charged at him, knocking him over.
It went for him again, battering him with all the force of an animal weighing more than half a ton.
We have quite small cows, but 600 kilos is still a lot of force.” Jock Gibson
“The cow gave me a hell of a walloping,” he told The Press and Journal, adding: ” It belted me twice.”
“We have quite small cows, but 600 kilos is still a lot of force.”
The incident happened more than a year ago but has had a lasting impact on his health.
Describing his injuries, he said: “Both of my knees were damaged. I still have problems with my left knee.
“I’m still not back to full fitness by any stretch of the imagination.”
Of course, it could have been a lot worse.
Mr Gibson, who has cattle and sheep at Edinvale Farm, near Dallas, said: “I’ve heard of worse things happening to people with a lot more experience than me.
“Often, it happens when they are doing something they’ve done a thousand times before.
“But different situations can have different outcomes.
“I’ve heard of farmers suffering broken ribs, or breaking their pelvis – serious damage.
Farming is still a very physical and manual job. You can’t mitigate against all the risks.”
“Despite all the advances in technology, farming is still a very physical and manual job.
“You can’t mitigate against all the risks.”
Mr Gibson took over the family farm in 2015 following the death of his parents.
Beef and lamb from Edinvale is sold through the family’s butchers shop, Macbeth’s, in Forres. It supplies hotels and restaurants, plus a growing army of people by mail order.
New farm ‘safety hero’ role
Mr Gibson is also on the steering group for Farmstrong Scotland, a wellbeing programme aimed at crofters and farmers.
And he has just been chosen as Scotland’s “farm safety hero” for a new campaign aimed at reducing accidents in the industry.
Health and Safety Executive figures show his “walloping” by a worried cow is the tip of a very large iceberg.
Their release today coincides with the start of Farm Safety Week, an annual initiative led by the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) and supported by hundreds of farming businesses and organisations across the UK and Ireland.
The numbers show agriculture continues to have the worst safety record of any UK industry. A total of 35 people were accidentally killed on British farms during 2023-24.
Most of them were farm workers but the figure also includes two children.
One-fifth of all workplace deaths are on farms
While farming accounts for only 1% of the working population, the industry is responsible for 20% of all deaths in the workplace.
Yellow Wellies says these figures and another 23,000 injuries to workers every year in Britain alone show attitudes to risk-taking and poor safety behaviours must be tackled.
Insurer received nearly 1,000 farm accident claims in just one year
According to insurer NFU Mutual, there were 937 farm accident claims in the UK during 2023-24.
Encouragingly, this was lower than the 2022-23 total of 1,021.
The number of claims in Scotland also fell, from 99 in 2022-23 to 81 in 2023-24.
Accidents claimed for included falls from height, trapped body parts and falling objects.
Attitude and complacency challenges
Research carried out by Yellow Wellies last year found 88% of UK farmers believe complacency is a major factor in accidents, with attitude seen as the biggest contributor.
Yellow Wellies manager Stephanie Berkeley said: “Farm safety is not just our problem, it’s a worldwide problem.
“Agriculture employs half of the world’s labour force but remains one of the three most hazardous sectors of activity, along with construction and mining).
“The UK recorded a total of 35 farm-related deaths over the past year including two children – 35 families and communities devastated by the loss of a loved one. We can’t let this continue.”
Ms Berkeley added: “This year’s Farm Safety Week offers an opportunity for a real reset of the way we approach farm safety and risk-taking. We cannot continue to tolerate poor safety behaviours, we cannot assume it’s somebody else’s job to drive this change in culture, and we cannot rely on luck when going about our daily tasks.”
Farm labour resources ‘stretched to the limit’
NFU Scotland vice-president Andrew Connon, who works closely with the charity, said: “Less staff, less time, shorter weather windows and financial pressures are undoubtedly a contributor to accidents on farms, especially on the family farm where labour resources can often be stretched to the limit.
“Whatever reasons they may give, we have to tackle these issues.
“I do see farmers and crofters working with unpredictable cattle, especially on their own, as being an extremely serious risk.”
Mr Connon said basic risk assessments, hard hats for work at height and quad bike helmets were among the safety examples of “where things need to change for starters”.
Perthshire farmer and NFU Mutual chairman Jim McLaren knows only too well the ever-present dangers associated with the industry, having suffered a life-changing accident as a child.
Every single farm accident is a farm accident too many.” Jim McLaren, NFU Mutual
Mr McLaren said: “Over the last 10 years, the Farm Safety Foundation has worked tirelessly and with great success to change mindsets and improve the approach to farm safety, particularly among the younger generation.
“But every single farm accident is a farm accident too many, and there is still so much more to do.
“Farm Safety Week is a great opportunity for our whole sector to pause and reflect, to remind ourselves that virtually every task we undertake on farm has the ability to kill or seriously injure us if we approach it in the wrong way or with undue haste, carelessness or bravado.”
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