MADAM, the local NFU office is getting weekly reports of Chinese lanterns found littering farmland. On behalf of the livestock and arable farmers of the local area, I write to the Ross Gazette to highlight the serious threat posed to crops by Chinese lanterns, which are increasingly being used at local events.
Chinese lanterns pose a real fire risk to crops, especially at harvest time. There have already been several instances of acres of crops being destroyed by fires started by Chinese lanterns in other parts of the country, and it is only through good fortune that such a major fire has not yet happened in the Ross area.
In addition to the fire risks posed, there is a very real threat to farm animals posed by the wire frame that forms part of these lanterns. Again, there have already been proven instances of livestock dying as a consequence of ingesting wire from Chinese lanterns in other parts of the country.
The farming community does not wish to be a killjoy, but would urge event organisers to think of the potentially lethal consequences of letting off Chinese lanterns, and please refrain from doing so.
Matthew Price, Senior Group Secretary,
Ledbury & Ross-on-Wye NFU