Getting ready for silage season

This can be one of the most demanding times of the year on farms with weather conditions already ramping up the pressure on farmers. It is therefore imperative that health and safety is at the heart of all silage operations in the coming weeks.

The late spring weather has been poor for farmers with a very wet and cold start to the grass growing season. Some farmers and contractors have managed to make a start but for many the weather watching goes on as they look for a prolonged dry spell to get the grass cut, wilted and then lifted.

With weather dictating when farmers and contractors can begin work, broken spells of rain can ramp up the pressure as the temptation is there to work longer hours to make sure as much silage can be collected before the rain returns.

But longer hours in charge of heavy machinery can lead to driver fatigue and this is when risk of injury through accidents can increase.

The weather can be particularly problematic for contractors as it can shorten their season, condensing their time to meet client demands.

From a health and safety perspective as well as a business point-of-view, careful planning and machinery maintenance can help you avoid unnecessary downtime. A broken-down tractor during a closing window of dry weather is the last thing anyone wants.

Before embarking on long hours of cutting silage it is important to ensure that all machinery, including the tractor, is working correctly.

A common claim for insurance companies at this time of year is for collisions associated with tractors turning right. Accidents can happen when tractors turn right into a field as a car pulls out to overtake. It is vitally important that all machinery attached to the tractor has working indicators and lights.

Another issue to consider is people coming on to the farm at this time of year to work. Whether that is additional labour or contractors, they must have valid driving licences to allow them to operate the vehicles as well as declare any penalty points, motoring convictions or previous claims to their insurers.

There is a lot to consider prior to launching into the silage operation, but with some careful pre-planning and machinery maintenance costly delays can be avoided.

When it comes to insurance it’s important to have employers’ liability, especially for those farms which will be employing seasonal labour. This provides cover if the business has caused damage or injury to an employee because of negligence and as an employer you have a legal responsibility to purchase employers’ liability cover.

Public liability is a must-have for any farm as it ensures you are covered if a member of the public is injured on your farm. It also covers you if you are responsible for damage to another person’s property for example, if debris is left on the road after machinery has been in a field cutting silage and an accident takes place.

We are proud to protect our Northern Ireland farmers and at AbbeyAutoline, we can connect you with our panel of agricultural insurers from across the UK. As a broker, we are able to provide customers with choice and take the hassle out of searching for the best insurance deals. We work extensively with these insurers providing our customers with the best deals we can offer every single day.

Our dedicated farm team can tailor a policy to suit your needs and with branches across Northern Ireland our teams are never far away when you need us most.

To find out more about how the agricultural team at AbbeyAutoline can help you, visit https://www.abbeyautoline.co.uk/farm-insurance/