NEW data from NFU Mutual reveals that the cost of farm fires surged by 37 per cent in 2023, prompting calls for better fire prevention strategies across the sector.

Last year electrical faults, lightning strikes, and arson were the main causes of farm fires, with agricultural vehicle fires accounting for £37.7m. The cost of tractor fires reached £20.4m,

Nigel Roper, a Ross-on-Wye farmer, who tends some 2,500 acres of arable crops, has praised insurers NFU Mutual who assessed his burnt out combine harvester following a fire in August last year, and settled immediately.

Roger Mince was operating a Claas 760 combine harvester when fellow farm worker Jamie Barber spotted flames pouring from the back of the machine.

Mr Barber was driving the grain trailer alongside the combine harvester and warned Mr Mince, who immediately drove the combine from the wheat field before leaping to safety.

The £250,000 combine was completely destroyed in the fire, despite the efforts of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Fire Service. The precise cause of the fire was undetermined.

NFU Mutual is calling for Government to encourage the uptake of fire suppression systems on agricultural vehicles with financial incentives or subsidies for farmers.

The systems work by rapidly detecting the first signs of a fire and releasing a suppressant that quickly extinguishes the blaze.

NFU Mutual rural affairs specialist Hannah Binns said: “A major fire is one of the most devastating things that can happen on a farm. As well as putting the lives of farmers and their families at risk, the impact of a fire can disrupt farm businesses for years.

“A lot of farms today frequently have larger quantities of flammable straw and other crops often stored close to tractors and other high-value equipment, so doing everything possible to reduce the risk of a fire breaking out is so important.”