Lincolnshire contractor and former chair of the National Association of Agricultural Contractors (NAAC), James Bannister, is a true ambassador for health and safety within agriculture; using his real-life experience to highlight the devastating impact of accidents on-farm, while also showing that a life-changing industry does not have to stop continuing within the industry.
A momentary lapse in concentration 27 years ago meant that James lost his left arm. However, this has not stopped him from building his own contracting business, offering lime, muck and biosolid spreading to farms across Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. When not working in the field, he has used his experience to work with various organisations to give talks, not only explaining what happened to him but also highlighting how small changes in attitude and preparation can avoid more injuries and deaths in the industry.
Talks have been given to both farmers and contractors in association with the NAAC and James works with the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) for Farm Safety Week, appearing on news programmes to discuss his accident. He is also a supporter of the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, who were key to getting James to a hospital in a timely manner after his accident.
He has been open not only about the physical impact of his injury – he has had to invest heavily in machines with continuously variable transmission, as well as haulage equipment to effectively move machinery around – but he is also open about the toll on his mental health. He acknowledges that the accident is still difficult to talk about, however, the feedback he’s received is that the visual impact of him missing an arm is effective in really driving home the consequences of an accident in this industry.
While the main aim is to reduce the number of incidents on-farm, James has also been a positive force in showing that an accident does not have to stop someone from being involved. In a previous interview, we conducted with James, he said that if he had listened to the doctors, he would not be where he is today. While he has had to adjust his work and life to accommodate his injury, he has been able to continue working in an industry he is passionate about.
There are few people who have brought such a personal experience to the fight against farming’s poor health and safety record. His work across multiple organisations, as well as his continued contracting work, make James a true ambassador within the industry and a truly deserving recipient of the first Andrew Lawman Safety Award.
Scottish contract farmer takes Young Agriculturalist of the Year
The third generation of a farming family, James Bell has been passionate about the industry from a young age. Taking from his nomination in the competition – ‘His passion for all things machinery has grown from carpet farming to now contract farming 324ha of stubble to stubble arable’.
The family farm comprises both a substantial hill farm and a lowland mixed farm, however with two siblings also keen to join the business, James understood that he would need to diversify to ensure that the farm could support them all. With his passion being focused on machinery, and the farm only having around 56ha of arable, he decided to move into contracting.
He got his start straight after leaving school. His attention to detail on a variety of silage and ploughing jobs meant that he built a reputation quickly in the area and gained his first contract farming work through Roxburgh Estates.
He has handled the work as a one-man operation, investing heavily in precision farming equipment. He uses GPS, variable rate seed and fertiliser, and section control for seed and spraying. This allows him to provide an accurate result, saving the customer on seed/fertiliser, therefore reducing wastage.
He subscribes to the Omnia farm management system, utilising soil sampling data to plan operations based on soil health. One of the farms James works with showed severe soil deficiencies, which Omnia highlighted, leading to a dose of lime and a restructured crop rotation with the aim of providing higher yields with lower inputs.
His passion for the industry is not in doubt, but he continues to work within it when not on farm to encourage more people to get involved. He is heavily involved with the Scottish Borders ploughing matches, having competed himself from a young age. He also organises the local Ednam ploughing match, hoping to bridge the gap between the older generation and young farmers.
This work continued during his two-year role as chairman of the Ednam Young Farmers club, enabling him to not only encourage those coming into the industry, but also make new contacts who have gone on to help his own career. James is also keen to continue developing his knowledge, getting on a plane for the first time in 2018 to spend four months in New Zealand and work for a contractor there.
At just 289, James has big ambitions for his business, aiming to reach 400ha of contract farming land. He plans to do this through continued hard work, as well as a demonstrative approach, building yields and soil health, as well as maintaining strong relationships with his customers.
And he wants to provide opportunities for the young farmers coming into the industry as well, aiming to hire a full-time employee, which will help him spread the workload across a greater area in the future.
