Landcare axes Quad Bikes from 57 Dairy Farms
18/10/2017
Mark Julien made the move to ban quad bikes from Landcorp’s New Zealand Dairy Farms two years ago as a safety measure. He described the move to axe quads from it’s 57 Dairy Farms in 2015 as a success.
Mark Julien made the move to ban quad bikes from Landcorp’s New Zealand Dairy Farms two years ago as a safety measure.Landcorp Farming Limited is New Zealand's largest farming operation whose core business of pastoral agriculture includes deer, beef, dairy and sheep.
Mr Julian described the move to axe quads from it’s 57 Dairy Farms in 2015 as a success.
Speaking about farm safety measures at the New Zealand Association of Resource Managers Conference Mr Julian recounted that is was the deaths of 2 employees; in 2015 and 2010 due to rollover accidents that prompted the move.
While hundreds of Quad Bikes have been removed from the companies Dairy Farms they continue to be used, albeit in vastly reduced numbers on the hillier terrain of the dry stock farms.
For the most part, the quads have been replaced with two-wheel motorbikes, small tractors and side-by-sides with roll frames and seat belts.
Mr Julian acknowledged that every vehicle comes with its risks, but that quad bikes were inherently dangerous due to the likely hood of them flipping onto the driver and causing severe injury.
The cost of alternatives such as side-by-sides to purchase and operate means the debate over quads on Dairy farms will continue. But the statistics for injuries are telling with 2637 non-fatal injuries and 27 fatalities involving quad bike accidents on New Zealand farms in the five years between 2012 and 2016.
