Farmers urged to prioritise safety as silage season approaches

Farmers and agricultural workers encouraged to take care during grass cutting and silage making operations

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), in partnership with the Farm Safety Partnership (FSP), is reminding farmers and agricultural workers to take extra care during grass cutting and silage making operations. 

With the silage season just around the corner, the message to all involved is to plan ahead, stay alert, and make safety a top priority. 

Silage operations often require the use of high-powered, fast-moving machinery, often on challenging ground conditions and in unpredictable weather. 

When long hours are added into the mix, fatigue can quickly become a serious risk factor. This increases the likelihood of mistakes and potentially life-changing incidents. 

Breakdowns, often due to poor maintenance, can lead to delays and extra pressures in what is an already busy schedule. Farmers and contractors should be carrying out pre-use checks on the machinery before use and rectifying any issues before putting the machine into service. 

HSENI and FSP are reminding all farmers and contractors that: 

• Extreme care should be taken when filling and covering the silage clamp.
• Clamps must never be overfilled, as this greatly increases the chance of a tractor or loading shovel overturning.
• Care should be taken to avoid people falling from height and also from being trapped beneath the silage cover. The fermenting grass uses up the oxygen under the cover very quickly, and the level of harmful gases increase rapidly.
• Overhead powerlines pose a significant risk to machinery that requires a lot of headroom, such as self-propelled harvesters and tipping trailers.
• They should inform any contractor or driver of their location prior to any silage operations commencing. 

Read more about silage safety for farmers and contractors. 

First published 30 April 2026