The Health and Safety Authority has expressed concern at the level of fatal accidents on farms. The current total at 12 is the highest on record for a five-month period since 1991.
In 1991 the total to May was nine deaths, and by the end of the year 35 people had died. The average figure for deaths to May since 1991 has been five.
Mr Aidan McTiernan of the Health and Safety Authority said that unfortunately two of the victims of farm accidents had been children under five years old.
"We are very seriously concerned about the level of accidents so far this year, especially as we are approaching the main silage season when many accidents happen," he said.
He said the majority of accidents had involved the handling of machinery, which annually accounts for 60 per cent of deaths.
Two of the victims had been killed in tree-felling accidents; there had been fatal acccidents involving falling through or from buildings; and one man had been killed by a bull and another electrocuted.
He said the highest number of fatalities in the past eight years had been in 1995 when 28 people were killed, of whom seven were children.
"This may have been because the weather was very good and children were out on farms in large numbers, and this may have been a contributory factor," he said. He appealed to parents to ensure their children did not go anywhere near machinery and said it was their responsibility to protect their children.
Mr Frank Allen, the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, expressed "serious concern" at the rise in fatal accidents on farms and urged farmers to make safety a priority, especially now coming up to the silage-making season.