Farmers are urged to prepare for risk of fire

THE first Farm Fires Report from NFU Mutual has revealed that fires continued to devastate rural communities across the South West of England, costing an estimated £24 million in 2024.

- WMN REPORTER

A combine harvester ablaze near Frome, in Somerset

(NFU Mutual)

Across the UK, farm fires cost an estimated £102 million, despite there being an 18% fall in the number of UK farm fire claims involving growing crops, building and farm equipment reported to the NFU Mutual insurance firm last year. The ongoing high costs have prompted calls for farmers to remain vigilant around the ongoing issue.

The leading causes of farm fires were electrical faults, arson and lightning strikes. Fire damage to agricultural vehicles across the UK also cost an estimated £37 million.

Last year's cool and wet summer, coupled with farmers holding on to vehicles for longer and moving away from purchasing new vehicles, resulting in a likely lower replacement value, may have contributed to the reduction of combine harvester costs, down 52% to an estimated £3.5m. However, the previous two years saw the cost of combine harvester fires soar, at an estimated £11m and £7.4m respectively. NFU Mutual says it is vital that rural communities are not complacent, especially as, each year, hundreds of combines, tractors, and balers are still lost to fire, along with thousands of acres of valuable crops.

Hannah Binns, NFU Mutual's rural affairs specialist, said: "Back in 1910, seven farmers became frustrated at the losses caused by sparks from the nearby steam-powered railway, which often set haystacks ablaze.

"This collective developed into NFU Mutual and, more than a century on, fire remains a constant risk to UK farms, with dangerous and devastating farm fires becoming all too common. These fires not only endanger the lives of farmers, farm workers and their families, but can destroy months or years of hard work, with long-lasting consequences for agricultural businesses, structurally and financially.