What a fantastic Balmoral Show 2025!
Tremendous crowds were the order of the day at this year’s Balmoral. The event was boosted by tremendous weather throughout.
And the AbbeyAutoline stand, adjacent to the cattle rings, was thronging with people from early on the Wednesday morning right through until Saturday afternoon.
And, on behalf of everyone working within the AbbeyAutoline agricultural team, I would like to thank all those people who came and said hello throughout the four days of the show. Everyone was in great form, which was great to see.
This year’s event coincided with tremendously positive farm gate prices across almost all the farming sectors. And there seems to be every prospect of these trends being maintained over the coming months.
As a consequence of this, farmers across Northern Ireland are taking the opportunity to invest in the future of their businesses. In many cases, this is taking the form of new and more technically proficient machinery.
And this is necessitating a corresponding change to insurance policies.
Meanwhile, livestock values continue to strengthen. And again, this is necessitating changes to those insurance policies which cover animal loss. The upshot of all this has been a significant growth in business levels for AbbeyAutoline post Balmoral Show.
The tremendous spring weather has allowed all farm businesses to get on with field work in a timely manner. And the 2025 silage making season is now in full swing.
Meanwhile, the machinery used within production agriculture continues to become larger in terms of scale and more sophisticated in the way they can be used. Examples of this are high tech feeding systems and the use of global positioning system (GPS) technologies fast becoming the norm in securing higher levels of precision, where all farming operations are concerned.
For its part, the insurance industry has managed to reflect all of these advances in a seamless manner.
However, farmers should note that any person employed to drive a vehicle registered with the business must have a current driving licence while also declaring all previous convictions, penalty points and claims made against them.
Health and safety-related matters will always be a priority for all farming businesses.
Given this background, it is significant that the Farm Safety Partnership are urging farmers not to ignore even the slightest of symptoms of lung disease as part of a new campaign to promote lung health.
Moreover, the Health and Safety Executive is fully endorsing these sentiments with a bespoke communication campaign, specifically targeting farmers across Northern Ireland.
As a member of the Farm Safety Partnership, AbbeyAutoline fully endorses these initiatives.
One in five people living in Northern Ireland will be affected by a lung condition in their lifetime.
And where farmers are concerned, dust is a key contributor to many lung-related health conditions.
It is therefore important for all farm employees to be provided with the required personal protective equipment (PPE) and training when working in dusty environments. Failure to do so has implications for all Employers’ Liability insurance policies.
It’s hard to believe that we are already in June. The summer holidays are fast approaching for school children. It’s a time of the year when all young people want to get out and explore their surroundings.
But their safety must always come first. This is why it is imperative that a designated play area is made available for children living on farms. It must be fenced off and made totally separate from the farm’s working area and machinery.
It is imperative that children are kept away from potential hazards, including machinery, chemicals and livestock, at all times.
For further information or advice on agricultural insurance please contact the specialist Farm Team at AbbeyAutoline on 08000 66 55 44 or visit www.abbeyautoline.co.uk/farm-insurance