A senior Landcorp manager says quad bike incidents can still occur despite rigourous rules and training, and there are some farms where they simply shouldn't be used.
Whangarei coroner Brandt Shortland, who released his findings into five quad-bike related deaths this week, says the vehicles are are a farmer's best friend, and also their worst enemy.
His recommendations include the compulsory wearing of helmets, more research on roll-bars and more training for riders.
On average, five people each year are killed in quad-bike accidents on farms and a further 850 are injured.
Landcorp owns or runs 137 farms around the country, farming 1.6 million stock units on nearly 400,000 hectares.
National manager of staff relations and training Al McCone says no shortcuts are allowed when it comes to using quad bikes on Landcorp farms but despite this accidents still occur.
Helmets are compulsory, children are not allowed on the vehicles, passengers are not permitted and there is compulsory standard quad-bike training for staff, as well as advanced courses as necessary.
"The terrain, weather, fatigue, all those things play a part in incidents as do the design of the quads. They are not something you can relax when you're riding, they have to be ridden actively all the time."
Mr McCone says if accidents are to be reduced farmers need to make sure they're picking the right tool for the job - and that isn't always the quad.
He says Landcorp won't be using quad-bikes on the 13 farms in the central North Island it runs for Shanghai Pengxin as the terrain is better suited to other vehicles.
Mr McCone says the company is looking seriously at crush-protection devices for its quad bikes.
Farming leaders, trainers and quad-bike manufacturers will meet in a Government-organised forum early next year to consider new recommendations aimed at lowering the death and injury rate from using the vehicles.
