NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) has issued warnings to harvesters and grain growers ahead of a dry, windy harvest season.

The warning follows the recent total loss of faming equipment at Tabbita, near Griffith.

Upon arrival, crews found a combine which had caught alight, unfortunately it was unable to be saved, but the fire was stopped from spreading by the efforts of RFS.

Image: RFS Hanwood Brigade.

In 2021/22, the RFS responded to 38 fires in NSW involving heavy equipment, of which 15 involved farming machinery such as tractors, harvesters and pickers. Those losses have substantial financial effects, plus additional impact of lost crops.

"It is your responsibility to limit the ignition and prevent the spread of fires from your property," a spokesperson said. "This includes fires that may start due to harvesting operations."

The NSW RFS provides a number of tools to help farmers make the right decisions about harvesting operations that will reduce the risk of fires starting and spreading. These include Harvest Safety Alerts and the Grain Harvesting Guide.

This year, a Harvest Safety Alert may be issued for your district when necessary. Harvest Safety Alerts provide a signal to farmers that they should be taking extra precautions during harvesting operations to prevent the ignition and spread of fire due to the prevailing weather conditions.

These alerts replace Cease Harvests that were previously issued, and the decision to issue a harvest safety alert continues to be made locally.

Harvest Safety Alerts will be promoted via local radio and the NSW RFS Website.

If a Harvest Safety Alert is issued for your area you should:

A very simple tool released by the RFS, the Grain Harvesting Guide, enables farmers to measure their local weather conditions and determine if they should continue or delay harvesting operations due to fire risks.

The Grain Harvesting Guide has been adopted following its successful implementation by the South Australian Country Fire Association. Trialled across Southern NSW in collaboration with NSW Farmers and the Australian Customer Harvesters, it received very positive responses from farmers who supported its adoption more broadly.

You can pick up a Grain Harvesting Guide Sticker from your local Fire Control Centre.