ICMSA tells farmers to record names of hedge-cutting contractors near power lines

The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) is advising farmers to record the names of private contractors who maintain hedgerows around electrical infrastructure, after a case in which livestock were injured breaking out through a damaged fence.

The association said it is currently helping with that case. According to the ICMSA, the animals were hurt after they broke out of a field when a fence had been damaged. The organisation now wants farmers to treat contractor identification as a routine part of farm business management, not an afterthought.

What does the advice actually involve?

Pat O'Brien, chairperson of the ICMSA's Farm Business Committee, set out the practical steps. Farmers should identify the contractor teams carrying out hedgerow work "so that in the event of there being dispute over what had been done, or not done, by these contractors, farmers can cite the exact team, location and date".

He also advised farmers to take photographs of unsatisfactory jobs. In his view, that record is the difference between a claim that can be substantiated and one that cannot.

"We are having our attention brought to instances of stock being injured and drainage being blocked by shoddy work," O'Brien said.

The mechanism behind the advice is straightforward. Contractors working on hedges near electrical infrastructure are often private firms engaged by utilities or third parties rather than by the landowner. Once a crew leaves the site, a farmer who did not note who they were may struggle to establish liability for a damaged fence, a blocked drain or an injured animal. O'Brien's point is that identification must happen while the work is under way, because it cannot reliably be reconstructed afterwards.

O'Brien also argued that farmers should be informed of the contractors' identities as a matter of course, and should be assured the work is carried out to a required standard. He cautioned farmers not to assume they will be able to identify work crews after they have left.

Why timing matters now

The advice carries extra weight at this point in the farming year. Stock is being brought back in from out farms — grazing land at a distance from the home farm — and farmers may not check those fields and paddocks daily.

"Right now, when stock is being brought back in from 'out farms' and farmers mightn't be aware on a daily basis of who's in those fields and paddocks a bit of a distance from the home farm, it's so important to know who's on your land and what they are meant to be doing," O'Brien said.

In practice, that means a walk or a phone call to distant fields on the days hedge-cutting crews are scheduled, combined with a dated note and photographs of the work site before and after.

What about the bluetongue appeal?

The ICMSA has also called on farmers to be "proactively vigilant in the face of a concerning rise" in bluetongue cases over the past few weeks. Bluetongue is a viral disease of ruminants, spread by biting midges, that can affect both cattle and sheep.

Michael O'Connell, chairperson of the ICMSA's livestock committee, said only about half of Ireland's mature breeding herds and flocks are currently vaccinated against the bluetongue virus (BTV).

Supply is not the constraint. Latest official figures show four million doses of BTV-3 vaccine have now been supplied to private veterinary practitioners in Ireland. O'Connell stressed that this figure was "a long way from fulfilling the needs of all breeding stock whether it be bovine or ovine".

Farmers should watch for further case numbers in the coming weeks, and those with unvaccinated breeding stock should talk to their vet about dosing schedules before housing and mating seasons tighten the calendar.