It’s clear from the off that Irish Country Living has landed at a farm- and-tractor-mad household in Co Carlow. With Mount Leinster on one side and Lugnaquilla on the other, the farm is nestled in between the hills, and with dappled September sun coming through the trees, it’s a glorious autumnal scene greeting us as Alex, Luca and Oisín Rothwell (7) whizz around outside the farmhouse on their electric blue New Holland tractors.

With triplet brothers, it’s difficult to imagine any day being quiet in the household, a short distance from Tullow, but today has been particularly busy. The trio, who were Farm Safety Ambassador winners last year as part of the AgriKidsfarm safety programme, have been helping to promote the project in their school with the help of three very cute sheep.

“Today we launched the next round of AgriKids up in Ballyconnell National School, and the boys and I brought up a couple of the Valais Blacknose sheep to show the children. We took a few photos and videos, and it was a great day,” proud mother Lisa says.

She has her own 10-strong flock of the sheep, who originated in the Swiss mountains, called Idir na Cnoic, a nod to their picturesque location, which the boys are heavily involved in caring for and showing.

Then there is Lisa and her husband Clive’s main flock of Texels and Rouge de L’Ouest sheep.

“It was actually my husband who got me into sheep. I had horses up until the boys were born, and then I knew something had to give. I wanted my own flock of sheep, so that’s when the Valais Blacknose came into play. They’re a little easier to mind than the horses,” she says, laughing.

“I just love the Valais Blacknose and their docile nature. When we were up at the school this morning, they were just happy to be petted. They love people.”

Any suggestion that bringing up triplets must be very manic at times is batted away expertly by Lisa.

“We just make it work, and we just get on with it,” she says, laughing, adding that they get great support from their families in everything they do. “Routine is key most of the time. We have our schedules, and we stick to them. It’s been like that since they were babies.”

Young Alex, who joins his mother during our chat, says a lot of people in the school thought the sheep were “cute and fluffy”. “They like grass, hay and nuts,” he adds, smiling.

While he hasn’t decided whether he’ll be a farmer when he grows up, the seven-year-old enjoys going on the combine with his uncle James.

“He grows beans and corn,” Alex tells Irish Country Living.

Brother Oisín enters and shows off some of the rosettes that he and his brothers took home from the recent Tullow Show in the young handlers class.

“I brush them and wash the sheep,” Oisín explains.

The trio’s other big win at the show was in the fun fancy dress section, where they had a clean sweep of first, second and third. Alex was Batman, Oisín was a ninja and Luca dressed as Spiderman.

“We also dressed up the sheep for that,” adds Oisín, laughing.

Luca, the eldest of the trio, excitedly says that the principal, Ms Dolan, had never seen a sheep with a black nose before today’s visit: “We brought three sheep to the school today. Nerja, because that’s where we went on holidays this year, Minty and Mistletoe.

“Mistletoe was born on Christmas Day,” chips in Alex. “We were not expecting that.”

“We went out to feed his mammy, and then we saw a new lamb,” adds Luca.

“I think Santa brought her,” jokes Lisa to cheers and laughs.

When the chat turns to farm safety, Oisín explains that you have to stay behind the gate and not touch the fence, because it could be electric.

Alex advises children not to go into fields on their own and always have an adult with them.

Irish Rural Link announced on 28 September that primary schools nationwide can sign up for the new AgriKids Farm Safety Ambassador Programme. Now in its third year, the project brings practical, farm safety education into classrooms while strengthening connections with local farming communities.

Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the safety initiative reached a total of 17,000 primary school pupils last year.

The Rothwell’s involvement in AgriKids came about after Lisa joined the parents’ association in the local primary school. She had heard about the project at various shows and thought it was a good fit.

“There are about 200 kids in the school, and I’d say about 90% are from a farming background, whether that’s living on a farm, or granny and grandad have a farm, or their neighbours have a farm.

“I thought it was very fitting that they would take part in this initiative, so we brought Alma Jordan [founder] down, and it snowballed after that,” outlines Lisa. “We were very lucky that one of the teachers picked it up as an initiative, and they have been running with it ever since. They have had farm safety days, they do projects, and we are one of the few schools in the country to get our farm safety flag.”

It’s a real community initiative at its heart, where children learn age-appropriate information about safety around machinery and animals and animal welfare, adds Lisa.

“We’ve had vets in to talk to the kids, and we’ve had a local animal rescue to talk about rescuing and minding animals, and that coincided with Halloween to ensure animals are safe. We also did a fundraising initiative for ASH Animal Rescue.

“We see big benefits here on the farm. The boys are more conscious when they go out on the farm – what’s safe, what’s not safe – and they are teaching us a thing or two,” says Lisa, smiling.

“Their uncle James runs the tillage side of things here on the farm, and we run sheep, and I have the Valais Blacknose, and between the whole lot they are out and about every evening. They’re herding; they’re bringing cups of tea up the fields during the harvest and that kind of thing. They are very involved – typical farm kids.“

She is urging others to get involved in this project because children are the farmers and agri workers of tomorrow.

“I think the boys are more aware of farm safety now. They know not to go in the field or go up the lane because a piece of machinery might be coming down. As part of that, we put in safe zones on the farm. Outside the front of the house here and the garden, which is enclosed, is a safe zone, and they know during a busy time where they have to stick to.”

While the triplets are still very young, Lisa hopes they will stay linked into the agri sector in the years ahead.

“We can trace the farm back about 250 years, so I’d love them to continue that on in the future or do some sort of agri element.”

Heading out to the fields to meet the Valais Blacknose, the boys jokingly explain they have to be sheared twice a year, and once this shoot is over, they are off to Clive for a trim.

See agrikids.ie