In the Republic of Ireland, over 40 million tonnes of slurry are stored, handled and spread each year. Working with slurry is a particularly hazardous activity. The two risks when working with slurry are the risk of drowning in slurry tanks and the risk of asphyxiation by toxic gases released from slurry in storage.

Drowning in slurry and water, and asphyxiation (gas poisoning), caused 14% of farm deaths between 2000 and 2009. Drowning is by far the most common cause of death involving slurry. Children and the elderly are at particular risk.

In the period 2000-2010, 30% of child fatal accidents on farms were caused by drowning in slurry or water. In the same period 8% of deaths to elderly farmers were caused by drowning. Toxic gases are released during the bacterial decomposition of slurry in tanks. Inhaling these gases which include hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide can be lethal.

Some, like methane, are flammable. One in particular, hydrogen sulphide, is poisonous. All these gases are heavier than air, so they displace oxygen. This can lead to suffocation when a person enters a tank.

Hydrogen sulphide is extremely poisonous both to people and animals. It affects the nervous system and small concentrations can cause death. There have been many incidents in which people were overcome by slurry gases. Several people have been killed.

Smell is no indicator of the absence of gas, as many gases are odourless. Hydrogen sulphide has a ‘rotten egg’ smell at low levels, but cannot be smelt at higher levels. High levels can be released when slurry is agitated. One breath or lung-full at this level causes instant death.

The highest risk is when slurry is being agitated. The gases are trapped in the slurry and are released when it is mixed. Studies indicate that levels are greatest shortly after mixing commences in the tank, when slurry is stored for several months, when slurry is mixed in deep tanks, after silage effluent is added and when slurry is mixed in cold weather.

• Open slurry tanks should be protected by an unclimbable fence or wall at least 1.8 metres high, with locked gates. When the tank has to be emptied, consider having an adequately constructed access platform with safety rails
• Covered or slatted tanks require access manholes that children cannot open easily. Fit a safety grid below the manhole to give secondary protection. All slurry tanks should be adequately fenced
• Evacuate all livestock and make sure no person or animal is in or near the building. Do not allow slurry to rise within 300mm of the slats or tank covers. It is essential to avoid smoking and naked flames as the gas mixture can be highly flammable
• Never enter a tank for any reason - gases can build up and remain in partially emptied tanks above the slurry
• Never enter the slurry tank or any confined space unless you are wearing suitable breathing apparatus and/ or a harness attached to a lifeline controlled by at least two other adults positioned outside of the area
• Put up warning signs to warn of the dangers when working with slurry. Remember that scrape holes on outdoor lagoons should be adequately protected
• Cover all slurry tank manhole openings and beware of the risk of back injury if you need to lift slats in the shed. Agricultural contractors must be aware of the dangers of working with slurry and should ensure that they work safely at all times
• Use outdoor agitation points where possible - one lung-full of slurry gas can kill. Only agitate where there is good air movement .Evacuate and ventilate before you agitate, open all doors and outlets to provide a draught
• Avoid vigorous agitation in confined spaces and at least two people should be present and should stand up-wind
• Keep all people away from the agitation point for 30 minutes after starting agitation. In particular keep children and elderly persons away from the area when agitating. One should never stand over slats or near tank access points when agitation is in progress. Guard the PTO on the slurry tanker and agitator– do not use unless correctly guarded. As we know a high proportion of PTO entanglements occur when using slurry tankers
• There are now easy to use and affordable equipment to make slurry operations much safer. For example the Protege ZM hydrogen sulphide gas detection equipment is simple to use. It is easy-to-use, needs zero-maintenance with one-button activation, adjustable alarm settings and an easy-to-read display. The personal gas detection monitor is designed for monitoring the atmosphere for potentially hazardous levels of gases such as Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S), Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Oxygen (O2) enrichment or depletion.

As can be seen from the data below, from the Irish Revenue Commissioners, new tractor sales for February 2019 for Ireland will up by 32 units or 16%.

Used tractor sales were broadly in line with February of the previous year.

Based at Annaharvey near Tullamore, in Co Offaly, the JF Centre has recently been appointed as a Sulky and SIP dealer for the Offaly region.

The Sulky range of machinery is best known in Ireland for fertiliser spreaders but its range also includes cultivators and seed drills.

SIP manufactures a full range of grassland equipment.

The JF Centre is the largest dealer in Ireland for JF harvesters’ parts and they have 700 customers on their books. They are also a main dealer for Twose hedge-cutters, MX tractor loaders, Sip mowers, Sulky manure shakers and corn drills and Cross Engineering farm machinery in the midlands.

The JF Centre also stocks a wide range of agricultural machinery parts, including Twose, Spearhead, McConnel, JF, Sulky, Sip, Cross, Case and Kverneland.

The dealership is also an agent for Top Tul, Led Global, Quality Tractor Parts, McHugh Components, Genfit, AMA, Sparex, Vires, Irwin, McAnax and Posi Lock.

Alan Gethings is Managing Director of the JF Centre and he has been working and repairing JF harvesters for the last 25 years. Alan and his team have over 75 years’ experience working with all makes of agricultural machinery.

Alan also runs his own agri contracting business, Gethings Contractors Ltd. His father Ken set up Ken Gethings & Sons in 1968, which became Gethings Contractors Ltd in 2000.

Customers can see some of the machinery in use in Alan’s contracting business.

These include a Cross Engineering 2,500-gallon Super Tanker with Bomech 7.5-metre trailing shoe, a Series 4 TW55-4 Twose hedge cutter on a Massey Ferguson 390

and a Twose hedge cutter Series 5 TW67T-5 on a Case CS130 using precision proportional controls.

Alan has a contract to cut hedges and trim verges for Offaly County Council, so these hedge cutters are in regular use.

Alan runs five Case tractors – a CVX 1155, a CVX 1195, two CS 150s and a CASE IH cs- 130 and a Massey Ferguson 390.

His local Case dealer is WR Shaw – who are better known as New Holland dealers in Tullamore.

In addition Alan operates two Red Rock loading shovels, a Deutz Fahr 4065 combine harvester, two Twose hedge-cutters, six 18ft Dooley silage trailers, three Kverneland mowers and corn drills and a 4,000-gallon Hi-Spec slurry tanker, which draws sludge for the Offaly County Council, acting on behalf of Irish Water.

So there is no doubt that Alan knows a lot about farm machinery.

The JF Centre has almost 3,200 followers on Facebook.

EGO say they are pleased to once again be bestowed an independent ‘Best Buy’ award for its range of outdoor power tools.

BBC Gardeners’ World rated the EGO Power+ LM1903E-SP 47cm Self-Propelled Mower one of its best mid-price mowers, scoring it 19/20 and reporting on the ease of use.

The mower, which is new for the 2019 season and uses the brand’s 56V Arc Lithium battery, was trialled head-to-head with other established brands, coming out as one of the top on test.

With the write-up, in the March issue of the magazine, now on newsstands, the company believe it puts the newly launched model in a great position from the off.

Steve Roskell, marketing director (EMEA) at EGO, said, “Since our launch, we have been awarded numerous independent ‘Best Buys’ throughout Europe reflecting our position as the experts in the field of cordless technology in outdoor power equipment.”

Now in its 74th year, the organisers of SALTEX say the show is growing from strength to strength in its Birmingham NEC, England home.

They report that already 70 per cent of the SALTEX 2019 floorplan has been allocated with more than 180 SALTEX 2018 exhibitors returning. Over 40 of these exhibitors have increased the size of their stand and a further influx of debut exhibitors are looking to engage with the show this year.

Campey Turf Care Systems for example say they will be building on their success at SALTEX 2018 by upgrading its stand and showcasing an even wider range of turf machinery.

"The SALTEX exhibition has proved it is still popular with the professional groundsperson attracting visitors from both here and abroad. Last year we trialled a smaller stand with an area for seating and refreshments for our visitors. This was very successful, so this year we are taking a larger stand to create an even more welcoming space for our customers while at the same time increasing the number of machines on display," said managing director Richard Campey.

Lister Wilder is a new exhibitor for 2019 and division sales director Phill Hughes has announced that the company will be using its first appearance at the NEC as an opportunity to promote its hire division.

“I’ve been monitoring show attendance and feedback prior to making a commitment. My view of last year was that it felt like there was a level of excitement around the manufacturers. The customers attending appear to be of good quality and in good spirit, something which I believe has been achieved by combining the IOG Awards with the show.

“Over the last few years we have seen a rise in the number of commercial fleet customers looking for both long and short-term hire as an alternative to purchasing assets and we look forward to promoting our commercial hire division to a wider audience in order to increase our current customer base.”

SALTEX 2019 takes place at the NEC, Birmingham on October 30 and 31.

Claas has built its 40,000th Jaguar model at the Harsewinkel, Germany plant.

Since the start of production of its first Jaguar model series in 1973, the company say they have developed into the world market leader in self-propelled forage harvesters. Their latest success came at the recent SIMA show in Paris with the win of a Gold Innovation Award for the Jaguar Terra Trac.

This latest model, which joined the range in 2018, is the 960 Terra Trac. This is described by the company as the first forage harvester to feature a factory-integrated crawler track system. They say the new concept offers optimal soil protection under all conditions while remaining narrow enough for on-road travel. An intelligent headland protection system prevents damage to the grass cover and enables year-round operation. 

With twelve models in two model series, Claas say they now offer a comprehensive line-up of self-propelled forage harvesters for every area of application. 

The 40,000th Jaguar which recently rolled off the production line features a special design on the side panels. This milestone in production will also be marked by the deployment around the world of demonstration machines bearing the big cat design on the side.

The Carlow to Cork Tractor Club have announced that they will be heading on a Great European Tour Tractor run this during May 2019.

This year’s run will commence in the Carlow municipality of Germany, with parade of tractors traveling through Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and Ireland. The team will finish their 1,800km round trip in Co. Cork.

The convoy will be joined by lots of different tractors along their journey and all funds raised will again go towards Our Ladies Children’s Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin. The Carlow to Cork Tractor Club have been supporting this charity for 14 years.

Over fourteen years, the team have raised over €300,000. This year in a bid to raise extra funds, the team have decided to raffle off a restored Massey Ferguson 135 (above).

The club officially launched this year’s event on February 23rd, at the Arboretum garden centre, Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow.