Farmers should review their farm insurance plans every year to ensure they are fully covered as inflation and production costs rise, Christy Doherty, head of AXA Farm Insurance has advised.
Speaking on the latest episode of Farmland (Tuesday, April 12), Doherty outlined that as the cost of materials such as steel and timber increase, so too can the value of a farmer’s holdings.
“The most important thing a farmer can do is to make contact with their insurance company to check that the covers they have are correct, and that the values they have on their property are relevant, because farming changes year on year.”
According to Doherty, farm insurance premiums are influenced by a number of factors and if valuations are inaccurate, some farmers could end up overpaying.
“You could end up paying too much one year versus the stock levels that you carry the following year. So, it is critically important that you check it.”
Farm safety
Doherty offered the advice during a wider conversation about the dangers involved in farming, following a recent partnership between Axa and Agriland Media Group for a digital-only farm safety campaign, supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
As part of the campaign, the insurance company will use its knowledge of previous claims to produce a series of farm safety videos on areas where accidents regularly happen.
“It is incumbent on any insurance company [which] is involved in risk management, to support farmers and farm safety and get the right message out there,” Doherty said.
“We will be utilising farmers’ experience and knowledge to share with others out there the hazards that do exist, and the things that do need to be brought to bear before you go out and spread slurry or fertiliser and so on.”
Taking extra time to consider the risks when doing something and pacing yourself is key according to Doherty, who said balancing safety considerations with the need to get the job done is vital.
Farmers understand the risks involved with working on the farm but sometimes they can become too used to them and forget to take the proper considerations, he said.
“It’s about how we gently remind them again and again to take that extra minute to be safe. Particularly for the part-time or the elderly farmer.”
Farm fatalities
Last year (2021) in Ireland, 10 people died as a result of incidents on farms. While this was a decrease on the previous year, the farm remains the most dangerous workplace in Ireland.
“We want to do what we can to bring down those numbers. We know that last year’s farm fatality numbers fell and we want to continue that. One life lost on a farm is too many,” Doherty said.
“Farm safety has to be top of the mind. It has brought unnatural grief to farming families over the last number of years.
“If we could save one life and prevent one accident, we will have achieved everything in this,” Doherty concluded.
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