A stock agent has died after being trampled by an animal on a cattle farm at Georges Creek near Tallangatta, southeast of Albury Wodonga, according to Worksafe Victoria.

The man, in his late 50s, was drafting cattle in stockyards on the property just before 9am Thursday when he was struck and killed.

WorkSafe Victoria said it is investigating the tragedy.

The man’s death is the first workplace fatality in the State for 2018. It is also the second involving a stock agent to die in Victoria in the past three weeks. A stock agent died on 15 December when he was crushed by a bull at Dunkeld in the state’s west, according to Worksafe Victoria.

The fatality is also the third to involve livestock in five months. In August a 55-year-old man died when he was crushed by a bull at Bamawm, south of Echuca.

WorkSafe’s Acting Head of Operations and Emergency Management, Trevor Butler, said yesterday’s fatality was a tragedy, and a grim reminder to every member of the farming community to make safety a priority.

“Fourteen people working in agriculture lost their lives in workplace incidents last year, and to have another tragedy so early in the new year is horrifying,” Mr Butler said.

“It is a stark warning to everyone in the farming community that safety must be a critical part of everything they do.”

Mr Butler said it was a source of continual frustration to everyone at WorkSafe that while Victorian workplaces had never been safer, Victorian farms remained the most dangerous workplaces in the state.

“Year after year we see experienced farmers doing everyday tasks they have done many times before who are getting injured and killed,” Mr Butler said.

“WorkSafe wants the farming community to make safety their number one priority, so talk about it every day because it could be a conversation that saves your life, or that of a loved one.”