Recommendations made in 2021 to reduce the number of deadly barn fires in the Netherlands have largely been ignored, the safety research council OVV said on Wednesday.

Although there were fewer fires last year than in 2020, the number of animals killed actually rose, the OVV said. 

In 2020, nearly 110,000 chickens, pigs and other animals died in 51 barn fires. Last year 130,000 animals were killed in fires at 42 different farms.  

The OVV said livestock farmers are not being proactive enough in taking measures. “They assume they won’t be hit by a fire and so they don’t invest in fire safety precautions,” the agency said in a press release. 

Farming organisation LTO said government policy on dealing with nitrogen-based pollution is one problem farmers have to contend with. “Farmers can’t make any major investments or build new barns until they know what their long-term prospects are,” the lobby group said.

In April this year, the LTO came out against the annual fire safety check which is due to be made compulsory from next year in an effort to stamp out barn fires. Instead, LTO is calling for five-yearly checks, saying this is a more realistic option because of the cost and the shortage of inspectors, the AD said.

Animal welfare group Wakker Dier has long campaigned for action to reduce the number of barn fires. “They’ve been happening for much longer than nitrogen has been an issue,” director Anne Hilhorst said. 

In particular, Wakker Dier says farmers should have enough water on site to put out a fire, and install sprinkler systems and fire alarms. It also wants formal rules about the number of animals that can be kept in the closed part of the barn and says barns should have escape routes.