The 29th farm death of 2014 occurred last night, on New Year’s Eve, when a 40-year-old farmer in Cork was crushed by a JCB.

The Gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) are investigating the incident which happened on New Year’s Eve on a Cork farm.

Reports say the man was crushed by a JCB while he was feeding cattle near Mourneabbey, Mallow.

It is believed the vehicle rolled over the man when he was cutting plastic from a bale of silage on the front of the JCB.

This was the 29th farm death to occur on Irish farms in 2014, despite numerous safety initiatives and awareness campaigns.

According to John Hennigan of the the Health and Safety Authority farmers constitute just 6% of the Irish workforce, but farm death accounted for 60% of fatal workplace accidents in 2014.

The cause of such catastrophes seem to follow a similar pattern every year, he said, with about half of the most serious accidents caused by tractors and machinery, and a further one-in-five tragedies attributed to livestock.

The demographic most at risk are male dairy farmers over the age of 55. Overall, 50% of the victims are between 18 and 65 years of age, 32% over 65, and 18% under the age of 18.

Farmers are also being reminded that the closing date for the Farm Safety Grant is January 9.