This weekend, a Leicestershire farmer’s prompt action prevented thousands of pounds worth of damage to a field of wheat straw set alight by Chinese lanterns.
NFU member John Duffin, of Bruntingthorpe, reported the issue to his local NFU office this morning, after the lanterns were spotted landing in his fields on Sunday evening (8 August). John’s brother Bill was baling the straw when he saw several lanterns landing. Luckily, his quick actions to extinguish the fires in the straw saved the field and many thousands of pounds.
"Bill saw the lanterns landing in the dry straw," recounts John Duffin. "There seemed to be a lot of them landing in the field and in the next door field of grass, which we’ll shortly be cutting for silage. There were some dropping in my neighbour’s field of maize too. We’ll have our work cut out to find them now and I’m worried that if we don’t find them all, they could get chopped up in the silage and months down the line, the wire pieces could kill a cow by perforating her stomach. I really think lanterns should be banned – they’re just too dangerous."
Leicestershire farmer and county NFU vice chairman, Chris Parker added his concerns:
"In the driest summer for many years, the lanterns could easily have set off a huge fire causing damage not just to crops, but to wildlife, properties and the environment too. They may look like a bit of fun, but they’re incredibly dangerous. Setting them off and not knowing where they’re going to land is naïve, as in many cases the lanterns are still lit when they come back to earth, sometimes many miles from their starting point.
"NFU is campaigning for a ban on the sale and use of lanterns. Until they’re made of materials that are properly biodegrade and not from wire or bamboo, they pose a huge risk, especially to livestock. We want event managers and the public to think twice about letting off these party "toys". The trouble is they aren’t toys, they’re a real danger to animals, crops, buildings and the countryside."
