Farm Safety
Like many workplaces, farms require the use of specialized equipment. However, the close proximity of most producers’ homes to their farms can lull both adults and children into such familiarity with processes and tools they forget to exercise caution. MSU Extension specialists and agents focus on farm safety in several ways, including grain bin safety, proper storage and use of chemicals, ATV safety, and educational events for children.
The most common farm tractor and machinery related accidents result in approximately 20 fatalities annually in Mississippi. These include tractor rollover, improper use of a front loader, backwards flip of the tractor from hitching to something other than the stationary drawbar, operators and extra riders being run over, and roadway collisions.
These video clips represent a composite summary of real situations that have occurred most frequently during the past 20 years, determined by analyzing death certificates from accidents. Drowning in a farm pond is also a leading cause of farm related deaths in the state.
The following public service announcements are presented to emphasize the dangers associated with these hazards and suggest safer ways to accomplish the task at hand:
- Avoid Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
- Danger! Farm Machinery On Roads
- If You Smell Propane Gas
- Lighting Gas Grills
- Never Store Pesticides In Unlabeled Containers
- Tractor Safety: Avoid Rollovers
- Tractor Safety: Falling Objects
- Tractor Safety: Front Loaders
- Tractor Safety: Lifting Heavy Loads
- Tractor Safety: No Extra Rider
- Tractor Safety: Proper Hitching
- Tractor Safety: Rollover Protective Structures
- Tractor Safety: Safe Turns
- Transporting Propane Cylinders
- Water Safety
Publications
News
Slow down, be observant, and give farm equipment some space on the road during harvest season (Photo by MSU Extension)
It’s harvest season, and you’re likely to see large farm equipment on the roads, whether that be bright green combines, red tractors, or anything in between.
COLUMBUS, Miss. -- During a grain bin safety demonstration, Benton Moseley pulled a couple of soft drink crates out of a storage compartment and explained why he carried them.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Late summer and early fall are when many growers begin thinking about when to make their last cut of hay each year, but safety should always be the top priority of anyone operating a baler, whether it is May or October.
Regular equipment maintenance and inspections are the best ways to prevent hay baler fires, but disaster can sometimes happen regardless of good upkeep and storage practices.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- For Nathan Casburn, the land that has been in his family since the early 1900s is now more than simply his workplace.
The Tallahatchie County farm is a place of healing from an opioid addiction that began with pain medication prescribed after he was in a car accident during high school.
Casburn explained in a miniseries titled “On the Farm” that one of the biggest hurdles in his recovery was “saying I can’t do this on my own, and I need help with this.”
Planting season is underway and with it comes the transportation of heavy equipment along Mississippi’s roadways.
Drivers can help support local agricultural producers and their $7.4 billion contribution to the state’s economy by staying alert while sharing the road with planters, tillers and tractor-mounted sprayer
Success Stories
Producer teaches about food and farming practices
Rowell Farms is doing much more than supplying cooks with fresh, local foods. The Heidelberg truck-crop farm is growing into an educational outlet for the Clarke and Jasper County communities it serves.
They met in 2010 because of a tragic rough-terrain forklift fatality. Tredrick Johnson was the safety manager at the Cleveland branch of Quality Steel Corporation, and Billy Chandler was the local safety-compliance officer for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, better known as OSHA.
