What the ...?

We heard this story while we were in the shower, and our first reaction was to scratch our head in bemusement - read on:

2010 saw a spike in the number of fatalities and serious injuries on farms and a Federated Farmers spokesperson thinks it may have to do with long daylight hours

Federated Farmers is alarmed at the level of fatalities and serious incidents on farms in 2010.

Spokesman Donald Aubrey believes a spike in accidents may be caused by long daylight hours which see farmers working while tired.

"I can't say why this has occurred but from the research done by organisations like Otago University, fatigue is certainly one of the factors at play here," he says.

Perhaps the Federated Farmers spokesman needs to choose his words a little better. As far as we were aware, there were no more daylight hours in 2010 than in any of the years preceding it, barring Leap Years! And even when Daylight Saving kicks in each year (to the chagrin of Ele at Homepaddock and others from the agrarian world), there's not actually any more daylight.

The only explanation that we've been able to come up with is that "fatigue is certainly one of the factors at play here" with regards to Mr Aubrey! That's unfortunate, because he's raised a serious issue.