Farm safety: King Country farmer ‘counting lucky stars’ after quad bike accident

The Woodwards are a busy farming family with their dairy and goat fibre operations in Ōtorohanga in King Country. Photo / FMG

By Monique Steele of RNZ

A King Country dairy farmer recovering from a serious quad bike accident last year is urging his peers to take care out on the farm this busy summer season.

Rural insurer FMG said it normally received one claim a day for quad bike roll-overs, but there was usually a spike in incidents in the lead-up to Christmas.

Michael and Susie Woodward run a 300-strong dairy herd, 250 Angora goats and other livestock at their Ōtorohanga farm south of Hamilton.

Woodward was in a serious accident in January 2023, when his quad bike flipped on steep terrain while he was moving bulls.

He thought he’d get a tomorrow job “knocked off” that day — in the lead-up to his mother’s 70th birthday party that week — by moving eight large bulls.

But one decided to wander off.

“I thought I’ll be able to cut him off and just get above him on a little rise that I’ve been up before. But this time the bulls [had] made a bit of a rut that I hadn’t seen,” Woodward said.

The quad bike flipped over him, crushing his legs.

“I went up the hill, stopped halfway up when I realised I was in the poop.

“And as the bike started coming over, there was a bit of an ‘oh heck’ moment, but thankfully after I’d hit the ground I could sit up — in a bit of pain — and see the bike roll down the hill.

“I’m sort of counting my lucky stars with that.”

Woodward didn’t go to the doctor immediately — and deep bruises developed, which led to an infection.

He sustained long-term nerve damage and numbness in his shins and legs as well as lower back issues, but the injuries had improved over time.

He said the incident was a wake-up call.

“It was one thing that I’ve done hundreds of times before — up little rises — but [that day] was the one day the attention probably wasn’t there ...

“The more I thought about it, the more the thought comes to mind, ‘Why are you doing things that you wouldn’t make your children, your wife or any of your staff do?’ — but sometimes we stretch the rules for ourselves.

“Would I send my kids up there? And I wouldn’t, so why am I going up there myself?”

Michael and Susie Woodward. Photo / FMG

It was sometimes hard to have a clear mind when facing the many decisions on-farm, especially as a tight family team.

“Take five minutes, think about what you’re doing and it will save you 10 minutes down the road.

“But in the heat of the moment, sometimes it’s hard to take an impulse away and just get that job done straight away.

Michael and Susie Woodward on their Ōtorohanga farm south of Hamilton. Photo / FMG

“But I think that’s the undoing of a lot of farmers in the country.

“We just know that this is an easy job to be done, but sometimes it just takes a whole lot longer because of lack of planning or an injury happens, or worse.”

FMG client advice manager Abby France said the pressure to get things done on-farm was immense during summer’s longer days but this could lead to things going wrong, with possibly fatal consequences.

“Whether it’s mowing and baling paddocks before the weather turns, rushing to get out the door for some time off-farm or working fatigued to make the most of the longer days, no bit of work is worth you not making it home at night.”

ACC data showed a quad bike accident resulted in more than three months off work on average.

FMG urged farmers to head to their rural offices nationwide and test their tyre pressure and also go in the draw for free quad bike crush protection devices.

- RNZ