Cut to the Chase -- Farm Safety a Two Way Street

FARM SAFETY IS A TWO-WAY STREET

By Denny Banister

Accidental injuries and deaths make farming one of the most hazardous jobs, usually ranking in the top five of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. To remedy the situation requires the cooperation of not only farmers and ranchers, but the non-farm public as well.

How can the non-farm public have anything to do with farm safety? The answer is simple – slow down on county roads where farmers are often moving tractors and heavy equipment from one field to another. Many county roads are narrow with hills and curves, giving drivers of fast-moving cars very little time to react when topping a hill and suddenly finding a slow-moving tractor in their path.

The argument could be made the farmers are driving too slowly, but assessing blame is not the point – the goal is to prevent the accidents in the first place. Farmers need to take all safety precautions, such as ensuring slow-moving vehicle warning reflectors are mounted to the rear of their tractors, wagons and implements, and making sure emergency lights are flashing.

Drivers need to slow down and not assume the road will be clear around the next bend. Getting off the highway and using county roads is attractive to many drivers during spring months, however, farmers will use these roads, too – spring planting is underway.

National Farm Safety and Health Week is observed during harvest time, and yet the most dangerous time of the year for farmers is spring planting season. To raise awareness of this fact, with the goal of reducing the accidental injuries and deaths so prevalent at this time of the year, Farm Bureau sponsors Agricultural Safety Awareness Week the first full week of March.

Accidents between fast-moving vehicles and slow-moving farm equipment can cause serious injuries to both drivers. It is not about fault; it is about prevention of accidental injury and death. When using county roads and highways, farm safety is a two-way street.

(Denny Banister, of Jefferson City, Mo., is the assistant director of public affairs for the Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization.)