Farmers and crofters are being urged to make sure they have the right fire safety procedures in place.
NFU Mutual has released figures for fire claims to the firm last year – all claims in the UK were worth £44.7million, with Scottish claims accounting for £4.8million of this.
The rural insurer said the most common cause of farm fires, accounting for more than a third of 2014 fire claims, was electric faults.
While arson or wilful fireraising and mechanical faults were sited as the next most common causes.
“Farm fires present a real risk to the lives of farmers and their livestock,” said the managing director of the firm’s risk management services division, Ian Jewitt.
“The scale of claims shows how important it is to take all possible steps to prevent fires breaking out, and to have clear plans to evacuate people and livestock safely in the event of a fire and to make sure you have the right sort of fire extinguishers maintained in good order so you can fight small fires safely.”
NFU Mutual is now urging all producers to get on top of fire safety by following a fire prevention checklist.
Measures on the checklist include ensuring there are sufficient fire extinguishers in place and that stored materials are inspected and regularly maintained.
Producers are also urged to reduce the risk of arson or wilful fireraising by fencing off straw stacks and farm buildings and ensuring any hay or straw is stored at least 10 metres from other buildings.
They are advised to put an evacuation plan in place for staff and livestock and ensure all fuels are stored in secure areas.
Regular electrical safety checks should be carried out and staff and adult family members must know the location of fire extinguishers and how to use them.
National insurance broker Lycetts has also issued a warning over fire safety and urged farmers to ensure they stack their straw or hay in a certain way to comply with insurance conditions.
William Barne, of the firm’s Edinburgh office, said: “First of all, farmers need to be aware if there’s a stack limit in their policy which is defined by value rather than volume.
“If a farmer has a stack with £60,000 worth of straw or hay – whether stored in an enormous barn or in the open – and it all goes up in flames, there’s a strong chance that it will have exceeded the limit set out in the terms of the insurance policy.
“Insurers are reacting to the many fires which have devastated both huge stacks and the barns in which they are kept. It’s something that a lot of farmers don’t think about and many are simply not aware that limits may apply.”
He urged producers to check the terms of their insurance policy and to split stacks and keep them in different barns or locations, where possible.