Be Careful

After being frustrated for the last 2 weeks the weather is finally cooperating. It is harvest time. Many farmers will be pushing hard this week to get the beans combined and then move into the corn. With the harvest lagging behind normal there is a sense of urgency to get as much done as possible every hour. This is when accidents and injuries can occur. I am not going to sit here and say take it easy, relax, take breaks and get plenty of rest. I know what it feels like but I am asking you to just try and think about what you are doing and be cautious.

When you mention harvest time injuries and fatalities, you often think of someone getting entangled in a PTO, in the corn head, maybe in a chain or belt. Actually farmers are more likely to be injured by falling than getting entangled in equipment during the harvest season! Jay Zielske is an agronomist with Pioneer. Jay emails agronomy updates throughout the growing season. In the last update Jay indicated that he saw a report released by the Iowa Department of Public Health that indicated more farmers were injured by falls than entanglements.

I realize that study was done in Iowa and not Minnesota. However, I am quite sure farmers in Iowa are no different than Minnesota. When you think about how many times in a day you climb the combine ladder into the cab, climb up on a bin, into a tractor or truck it does seem logical. So, when you are climbing slow down just a little and be careful.