The Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Division of Ag Education, Farm Safety and Farmland Preservation teams up with several organizations to promote farm safety to National Farm Machinery Show attendees. I met Dale Dobson, Safety Administrator for the Department and Scott Cedarquist, Director of Standards & Technical Activities, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, who were working the exhibit. As you can see in the photo, they have a tractor rollover educational display to show the difference in a rollover with the ROPS bar up and down. In the photo this farmer “dummy” is the victim of the unsafe practice of not using the ROPS bar.
Dale says they have a very simple message, “Roll bars and seat belts work only if you put the roll bar up and you click the seat belt. It’s your choice. It’s life and death.” Scott says that ASABE has a major focus on safety as the standards setting organization. They have committees for specific safety components like lighting and marking. You can find information on farm safety from both of these organizations online.
Most everyone knows what a dangerous occupation farming can be, but the AgriSafe Network does something about it, and safety product companies can help.
The AgriSafe Network is a national nonprofit organization that represents health professionals who provide agricultural occupational health and safety services to farmers and their families.
To help out with this mission, AgriSafe has developed a social business venture based on the sale of safety products. “Without spending any additional dollars companies can assist farm families by choosing AgriSafe as the vendor for safety equipment,” said Outreach Coordinator Janie Boyer. “100% of the proceeds support AgriSafe’s non-profit work.”
For more information on the AgriSafe Network, go to www.agrisafe.org.
The weather during the month of April has been strange for a lot of the United States and Central Illinois is no exception (my weather man on Friday said this would go down as one of the top ten wettest April’s on record). While farmers are attempting to patiently wait to either get back in the fields or get into the fields for the first time – we’ve been talking a lot about on farm safety. At WMBD/WIRL we have a monthly “webisode” called GROWMARK Gleanings and this month Safety Service Specialist with GROWMARK Doug DeFilipo addressed all aspects of safety. I thought our conversation about chemical safety was one that could serve as a thoughtful reminder for everyone… Especially this time of year. As always – here is to a very safe Spring Planting Season.
Grain bin accidents and fatalities on the farm have been on the increase in recent years, but more attention to some simple safety rules could reverse that trend.
The two organizations teamed up in November to develop the video in response to an increase in U.S. fatalities and injuries associated with entry into grain bins.
“In 2010 we saw a record number of farmers becoming engulfed in grain bins and we decided it was time to have a proactive role in creating awareness about the serious nature of this issue,” NCGA President Bart Schott, a grower from Kulm, N.D., said. “We hope that this video makes farmers stop and think twice before the next time they put themselves in danger.”
The new video, shot on location in several states, provides a wide range of information from prevention tips and background data on grain bin accidents. The project also involved interviews with professionals in the fields of grain bin safety research and rescue to provide as much information to viewers as possible.
The video is available at NCGA.com and on NCGA’s YouTube channel and is also being distributed by NCGA to affiliated farm organizations. The NGFA also has made the video available on its website at www.ngfa.org, and will be encouraging its grain elevator members to distribute it to farmer-customers.
It’s official when the President signs off on it (pdf).
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 20 through September 26, 2009, as National Farm Safety and Health Week. I call upon the people of the United States to join me in celebrating the vital contributions of farmers and ranchers to our Nation and in reflecting upon the importance of farm safety and health in communities across America.
The National Education Center for Agricultural Safety wants us to have a harvest full of safety and health.
The National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) is dedicated to preventing illnesses, injuries, and deaths among farmers and ranchers, agricultural and horticultural workers, their families, and their employees. In 1997, we opened NECAS on the Northeast Iowa Community College Peosta Campus. NECAS is the only organization with hands-on farm equipment safety training center. The facility also houses classrooms and a library and resource center.
Our concern for safety in rural areas goes beyond farms and ranches. The need for our services spreads from citrus groves in the South to vineyards in the West. It covers cattle ranches in Wyoming, fisheries in Maine, and thousands of ventures in between.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Division of Ag Education, Farm Safety and Farmland Preservation teams up with several organizations to promote farm safety to National Farm Machinery Show attendees. I met Dale Dobson, Safety Administrator for the Department and Scott Cedarquist, Director of Standards & Technical Activities, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, who were working the exhibit. As you can see in the photo, they have a tractor rollover educational display to show the difference in a rollover with the ROPS bar up and down. In the photo this farmer “dummy” is the victim of the unsafe practice of not using the ROPS bar.
The AgriSafe Network is a national nonprofit organization that represents health professionals who provide agricultural occupational health and safety services to farmers and their families. 
It’s official when the 
In this week's program you can listen in to my conversation with Bill Howard, Fastline, about their new mobile game app, AgRacer.
