Farm fatality figures have dropped to their lowest on record – but industry leaders said much more needs to be done to improve agriculture’s poor accident record.

The Health and Safety Executive’s latest report says the number of fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing in 2019/20 fell to 20, the lowest level on record, down from an annual average of 27. But it says the sector still accounts for around 20pc of all workplace fatalities.

National Farmers’ Union (NFU) deputy president Stuart Roberts said: “While these figures show an important drop in fatalities they still indicate that there’s significantly more to do. Last year we lost too many of our family, friends and colleagues in the workplace – one fatality is too many.

“For the past few years we have seen many in the industry consciously prioritising health and safety and I hope these figures indicate the start of a downward trend which is underpinned by a culture change in the agriculture sector.

“There will be variations year on year and we need to see longer-term sustained improvement before we can say that farm safety has fundamentally changed.”