The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) have announced that they will soon start working with the Welsh Regional Fire Services to coordinate a service which will protect farms and grazing land from wildfires.
Jeremy Turner, the Fire Service’s farm liaison officer said:
“Our hope is to engage directly with the farmers with the help and guidance of the FUW in order to arrange to visit individual farms to discuss a plan that will address several aspects of preventing fires on their land.”
These include offering support and guidance to farmers, graziers and land owners in order to protect any controlled burning activities by providing a burning plan which will discuss burning techniques, fire barriers and how to control vegetation with alternative methods.
There will also be a hay bale temperature testing service available on request with a fire officer visiting the farm to use special equipment to record the temperature and humidity of the bales to prevent spontaneous combustion.
The FUW said that the major concern of farmers and smallholders is the damage to livestock when a wildfire breaks out through a farm and across the land.
On top of the worry of the devastating effect on the farm buildings and the land, losing an animal to a fire is a huge distress and therefore special equipment is available together with rescue teams to reduce the risk to the animals.
FUW president Glyn Roberts said:
“We are very grateful to the Welsh Fire Service for the opportunity to work with them in developing the Llethrau Llon scheme and are eager to spread the message about the all-important and essential service available to farmers, land owners and grazers to protect their property from the devastating effects of wildfire – which is free of charge.”
