Grain growers urged to keep up maintenance and have fire plan in place as harvest starts up

October 11

With this year’s harvest kicking off, the Grains Research and Development Corporation and fire safety experts are reminding growers to stay safe and reduce the risk of harvest fires.

About one in seven per cent of harvesters start a fire every year, and one in 10 will cause significant damage to both the machine and surrounding crops, according to GRDC.

The reminder comes not long after GRDC ran harvest set-up workshops across Australia’s grain growing regions, bringing to focus the importance of harvester maintenance and hygiene.

Camera IconKondinin Group research engineer Ben White. Credit: Melissa Powell/Melissa Powell

Kondinin Group research engineer Ben White, who presented at the workshops, said growers should make sure they prioritise machinery maintenance during harvest.

“Bearing failures are in many cases responsible for fires starting, so regular monitoring of bearing operating temperatures is important,” he said.

“Operators should be conducting regular clean downs during harvest and exercising particular caution when harvesting leafy pulse crops, as these are renowned for dust volatility.

“In areas where growers are harvesting frost-affected crops, these crops may create higher levels of fine dust which can make the harvester work harder, resulting in higher exhaust gas temperatures, adding to the risk of fires.”

Mr White also provided ten tips to help improve fire safety.

This included using a top-down approach when cleaning machines, monitoring and logging bearing temperatures with an infra-red heat gun, and remembering that pulse crops are much more volatile than cereals.

Mr White also recommended having the minimum required water and fire-fighting unit in the paddock being harvested, having a pair of extinguishers at the cab entry ladder and a pair at the rear of the machine closer to the engine, and having a fire plan in place.

He said that if a harvester fire did occur, operators should pull out of the crop immediately and face the machine into the wind before attempting to fight the fire, while making sure personal safety is prioritised.

Another important step mentioned was to remember the “big four factors” that lead to fires: Relative humidity, wind, crop type, ambient temperature and conditions.

GRDC also has several resources available, including a new harvester setup guide, a back pocket guide to reducing harvest fires and a recorded webinar on pre-harvest on-farm preparations, all of which is available on the GRDC website.

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