Last Wednesday morning I had to drive to Salthill to attend the EPA national water conference. It’s an annual two day event featuring a range of Irish and international speakers. It attracts around 300 delegates representing the broad range of people and organisations involved in protecting and using water resources. Agriculture depends on a generous supply of quality water and my IFA colleague Thomas Ryan was scheduled to speak on Thursday.

All the way I could see the silage season was well under way with gear on the move and working. As I arrived in Galway I got a call from my contractor that my own silage would be mowed as soon as the dew lifted. I prefer to allow a 24 hour wilt but a late cancellation had changed their schedule meaning the harvester would follow after a few hours.

Sustainable farming meant a second day away would be unsustainable for me so I headed back to Cork that evening, meaning a 500km route to see the final load for the night being filled on an outside block. Fragmentation at its best.

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All the way back I had been rubbernecking as I watched machinery at work. Farmers love tractors, especially at silage time. There’s usually an audience in the field and at the pit, although they usually scatter when they see the plastic being opened.

Surprising as it seems, not everyone likes tractors. To meet a tractor on the road can bring out strange reactions in other drivers. I’m not talking about a tractor being driven badly or illegally, the rules of the road apply to everyone from pedestrians up. It’s just that it is a tractor.

Some will panic and stop dead on the road. The tractor may need to climb a fence to pass. Others seem to be afraid to overtake, prepared to follow a tractor for miles despite being waved on. Then there is the driver that ignores the tractor. There is no way this driver will stay behind, no matter how fast or long the load, or how poor the road conditions. I’ve been overtaken on bends and had people pull out of side roads and literally park on the side of the road in front of me.

The worst driver to meet is the annoyed driver. These people believe tractors simply shouldn’t be on the road. On one side they expect the tractor to simply get out of the way, tarmac is for cars and tractors can use the margin or reverse into gateways. Others see the size of the tyres and reckon and these huge monsters are obviously too dangerous to be on the road.

Maybe it is time to include tractor appreciation as a training module for all new drivers. When I started as a learner driver an uncle told me to drive as though everyone else on the road is a fool. As a tractor driver it helps to realise how other drivers look at you. There are far too many farming related accidents, let’s stay safe while driving.