Farm Building 2007 – are you prepared?

Farmers will invest substantial capital in new farm buildings over the next two years to conform to legislative requirements under the Nitrates Directive and cross compliance. The Irish Farm Buildings Association (IFBA) annual conference being held today, Thursday, 29 March, addresses issues to assist farmers, building contractors and material suppliers to complete building projects safely and effectively.

The conference takes place against a background of phenomenal activity in the farm building sector. Brendan Smith TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food officially opened the conference, the theme of which asks the question - Farm Building 2007: are you prepared?

Approximately 50,000 farmers have applied for grant aid to the Department of Agriculture and Food under the Farm Waste Management Grant Scheme to construct new facilities. Teagasc is currently processing 10,000 applications and in total will handle over 50% of all applications.

This substantial level of investment in new buildings will be made as farmers put in place facilities to ensure conformation under the Nitrates Directive and cross compliance, while also improving labour efficiency, environmental protection and improved nutrient recovery from farm manures. Attention to detail at the construction stage ensures high quality buildings are put in place that will provide an economic payback to farmers.

Teagasc farm building specialist, Tom Ryan, speaking at today’s conference outlined a number of building layouts and building finishes demonstrating best practice solutions for a number of issues which arise during the construction phase. He said: “Attention to detail at the construction stage is the most cost effective way of providing a facility which provides the farmer with an efficient working environment and has an extended service life. Details such as floor finishes, slopes, and the type of feed barriers are critical to achieving this.”

Teagasc farm safety specialist, John McNamara, delivered a paper dealing with the practical issues of safety during building construction while also dealing with design issues to reduce the risks to operators using the building over its lifetime. He said: “With the increase in construction activity taking place on farms, it is imperative that care is taken to minimise all safety risks involved. Agriculture and construction are the two industries which in the past have accounted for a large proportion of accidents in the workplace.”

Other speakers at the IFBA conference, which is sponsored by Banagher Concrete and FBD, are Brendan Lynch, Irish Cement; Bill McEvoy, Oldtown Construction; Robert Leonard, Department of Agriculture and Food and Ciaran Roche, FBD. At today’s conference Teagasc and FBD also launched their new guidance booklet promoting safe building practices on farms.