FARMERS lucky enough to have got a full shed of fodder out of Scotland's soggy summer should beware – it might be worth so much that their insurance policy doesn't cover it.

This warning came from farm insurance brokers, Farmers and Mercantile, which said that farmers sitting on valuable stocks of straw and fodder need to do their sums and check their policy's limits.

Branch manager at F and M's Ayrshire offices, Matt McWhirter, said: “Across the country, and particularly across the south and south-west of Scotland, the persistent rainfall has resulted in a good many farms still with harvesting to complete, and silage unlikely to be finished. As a result, there is a lot less availability of straw, and fodder prices are therefore going through the roof.”

While this looks like positive news for those with fodder in store, such producers should be aware that they may be in breach of the stack limit: “Most insurers will have a stack limit value of, typically around £20,000, which in normal circumstances, would be more than sufficient," he said.

“But we are seeing straw that was previously reaching around £70 per tonne now valued at up to £120 per tonne, and this could obviously put a strain on these limits.”

It is now important for producers to check what the limit is on their own insurance policies: “If the value in store exceeds the limit, it is likely that, at best, you will be under-insured, and possibly not covered at all if the level has been breached."

Another impact of the heavy rainfall has been farmers racing against the clock due to impending slurry deadlines, and despite some extensions being permitted, and leniency in some parts of the country for those prevented from spreading by the poor weather, Mr McWhirter said it was anticipated that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency will be much more active on farms over the coming months.

“It is feasible, in many cases, that SEPA will be advising farmers on their responsibilities and preventing certain activities being undertaken, although stopping short of prosecution,” he explained, suggesting that farmers should consider their commercial legal cover, in case they need to challenge decisions made by bodies such as SEPA.

“Often, legal expenses policies will only cover in the case of prosecution, but not disputes," he explained. "The cost of disputing the decision may well be prohibitive, therefore without suitable cover, the farmer will have to accept the ruling even if there is a just case for challenging the original decision.”