Photos: Pink silage bales decorate farms for cancer initiative
©Rob Manford
Farmers in the UK and Ireland are getting behind an eye-catching initiative to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer charities.
Bright pink bales of silage are starting to appear on farms up and down Ireland as part of campaign involving the Irish Cancer Society.
In the UK, bales of slightly more subtle shade of pink are also starting to emerge, with Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the Breast Cancer Campaign getting a donation for every roll of wrap sold.
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The idea originated in New Zealand last year and was conceived as way of raising money for people living with secondary breast cancer.
©Clare Sansum
Wrap supplier Agbac sold out after it made 3,000km of pink wrap available to farmers across New Zealand last summer, with a portion of the sales donated to Sweet Louise, a charity that supports women and men living with secondary breast cancer.
“We’d love to see farmers embracing this initiative with pink silage bales visible in every parish this summer, knowing that in doing this we are not just raising cancer awareness but also helping to raise much needed funds for the Irish Cancer Society,” said John O’ Carroll, head of retail at Dairygold, which is selling the wrap in Ireland.
©Caroline McGrath, who lives on a family-run dairy farm at Garryspillane, County Limerick.
“Farmers will be buying the black wrap anyway so why not ‘wrap it pink’, brighten up the fields and put a smile on people’s faces.”
In the UK a pale pink version of the wrap has been manufactured by Volac, which is encouraging people to share pictures of their bales on their Facebook page.
Gloucestershire dairy farmer Richard Cornock is one of the first in the UK to use the wrap (see video below) and said it was great to do something that put a smile on people’s faces.
“Everyone knows someone who has been affected by breast cancer, so we were only too pleased to support such a wonderful cause.”