Staying Safe On, And Off The Farm This Harvest

 In the midst of harvest season, while some crops like wheat and rice are near to completely harvested, others such as corn, and soybeans will soon be, meanwhile apples and grapes have just started harvest. No matter if your role is a producer driving a combine, a driver hauling grain to the local elevators, or a motorist on country roads surrounded by farmland, safety needs to be kept in mind. 

“Fall gets going, the days are getting shorter, so you're going to see these big pieces of equipment out onto the roadway later into the evening, and we're getting darker earlier in the evening,” said Dan Neenan of the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety.  “So, the chances that ag equipment is going to meet with the motoring public is pretty good this time of year.” 

Neenan said both farm equipment drivers and motorists need safety reminders when they are on the road this time of year. 

“So left turns on the farmsteads is something that we need to talk about,” Neenan stressed.  “Ag equipment will be making turns into farmsteads. The motoring public, you have to obey the law and you can only pass farm equipment in passing zones. You can't pass it in no passing zones, but we see a lot There's a lot of collisions that occur between the motoring public and the farming community when the tractors and the combines are turning left into farmsteads about the same time that the motoring public is trying to pass. So there needs to be that awareness out there and to share the road.” 

Meanwhile, Neenan said farmers need to make safety checks of machinery and have personal protection and safety equipment available prior to the start of harvest; for the season, for each day. 

What Should You Have On The Farm To Keep Everyone Safe?

“We always want to take a look at the fire extinguishers that are in the shed and in the combine,” Neenan said.  “Are they charged? Are they ready to go? First aid kits, do you have a farm first aid kit that's stocked and ready to go?” 

Neenan adds if a grower's area uses 911 signs for emergency notification. 

“Have a notebook in every vehicle, combine, tractor, pickup truck, minivan that might go from farmstead to farmstead because farmers are now renting more property than ever before that would have that 911 sign,” he said.  “So, if you have an emergency that you can get that 911 sign and be able to give them that 911 number right away, which is going to tell the dispatcher what fire department, what ambulance, what law enforcement agency to be able to respond.” 

911 May Take Some Time

And even though most cell phone customers pay a 911 fee that allows vectoring to find GPS location. 

“That takes time. And in an injury or in a cardiac event, time is muscle. So, we need to shorten up that time from the time that we dial 911 till the time that we can get medical resources there to be able to help,” Neenan stressed.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com