Expanding dairy farmers are forcing agricultural contractors to construct “dangerously high” silage pits, the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) has warned.

It has called for a 6m height limit to be imposed on silage pits by the Health and Safety Authority to prevent contractor drivers working in dangerous conditions.

A working height directive could limit silage pit height to just twice the height of the retaining walls.

FCI chief executive Michael Moroney said it had received reports from contractors where farmers were forcing them to work on silage pits that are over 10m (35ft) high.

These are heavy machines, often over 15t in weight, and are now being urged to work at dangerous heights on an unstable surface that is grass silage

Photographs and video footage seen by the Irish Farmers Journal shows loaders and tractors working on pits that tower over nearby sheds and have perilously steep sides.

Moroney said contractors are very concerned about the safety of their drivers working at those heights.

“These are heavy machines, often over 15t in weight, and are now being urged to work at dangerous heights on an unstable surface that is grass silage,” he said.

As well as bigger dairy herds, heavy grass covers and a 10% to 15% carryover of silage in pits are exacerbating the problem.

There have also been reports of silage pits splitting and silage walls collapsing in Clare, Galway, Limerick, Cavan and Wexford due to the sheer volume of silage being packed into pits, as well as issues with nitrogen and moisture content.

Contractors have been urged to exercise extreme caution in the construction of high pits of silage.

The FCI has called for TAMS funding to be switched away from slurry equipment towards silage storage facilities.

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