Country Fire Authority leaders are urging farmers to ramp up their hay maintenance for the remainder of the season, following a surge in haystack fires.

There have been more than 50 haystack fires across Victoria since November, predominantly in the Wimmera and Loddon Mallee.

The authority has responded to 29 in the north west region and 12 in the west region.

The warning comes after a haystack fire at Gerang Gerung on Friday.

About 1000 hay bales were lost in the fire, which was declared safe at 8.17am on Monday morning.

A CFA media spokesperson said the fire at an Albrecht Road property was contained at 12.30pm on Friday, about 40 minutes after fire crews attended the scene, and handed back to landowners about 2pm Friday when under control.

CFA District 17 Commander Lindsay Barry said farmers needed to monitor the moisture and temperature of their hay more regularly and store in separate stacks and in sheds away from farming equipment and structures.

Mr Barry said spontaneous combustion was the leading cause of haystack fires in Victoria and just one damp bale was enough to ignite a whole stack.

“We are currently in the storage phase of hay season, and there are some contributing factors that lead to ignition,” he said.

“Unfortunately, at the beginning of the season, some bales weren’t produced to industry standard, and were stored away with too much moisture.

“Green or damp hay is susceptible to overheating, so those two in combination will make a fire.”

Mr Barry said due to significant rain this summer, haystacks that were not placed inside a shed or covered with a tarp had been considerably exposed.

“The hay has been pressed for so long, and because of the summer we’ve had, the majority of fires are where hay has been stored outside and exposed to the elements,” he said.

“Water and hay don’t really mix, especially when they stack together. This creates organic decomposition, which produces heat, and you end up with a hay fire due to spontaneous ignition.”

Mr Barry recalled a similar scenario three years ago, in which farms received more than 100 millimetres of rain in one storm, increasing moisture in haystacks and causing a trail of fires.

“For farmers who own hay, or who manage haystacks, we need them to be more vigilant and ensure they’re doing regular temperature checks,” he said.

“If they are warm, put measures in place to break down and separate the stacks and use machinery to put in strategic breaks if you can.

“Because of recent weather, we can only implement maintenance and management now.”

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