Local farmers help educate kids in farm safety

Animal Safety 4-H Junior Livestock Committee. Photo courtesy of Washtenaw County Farm Bureau.

More than 175 folks planned, sponsored, volunteered, or attended the recent Washtenaw Farm Safety Program at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds. Farming is one of the most dangerous occupations in our country, and involves many families. While farms are great places for children to play, visit, and work, they can also be places where kids are injured or even killed. In the U.S., every three days a child dies in an agriculture-related incident, and every day, about 33 young people are injured in agriculture-related incidents.

In an effort to help those who visit, or live and work on farms stay safe and learn the basics of farm safety, the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau and Washtenaw County 4-H program, in partnership with The Washtenaw Farm Council, local Farm Bureau Insurance agents and the Manchester, Milan and Saline FFA Chapters, hosted the safety event. The educational, family-focused topics included tractor safety, grain safety, animal safety, ATV safety, emergency preparedness, chemical safety, biosecurity and zoonotic diseases, and lawn mower safety.

Attendees checked-in to the Farm Safety Program where youth ages 10 and under received a “Farm Safety Passport” and all participants were assigned to groups. Volunteer guides then ‘traveled’ with each group thru the various safety stations where the younger participants received stamps on their ‘passports’ and had an opportunity to write or draw something they learned at each presentation. At the conclusion of the program, additional information and complimentary bags from Washtenaw County Farm Bureau Insurance Agents and were distributed to each family and the younger participants. Each child also went home with a first aid kit to personalize and decorate with the dairy-themed crayons provided. Each family also received an emergency contact magnet for them to complete and display in a prominent place in their home, shop or barn. Adults who completed a program survey were entered to win one of two door prizes provided by Farm Bureau Insurance.

The Washtenaw Farm Safety Program would not have been possible without the collaboration and generosity of many resource people and sponsors: Animal Safety – Washtenaw County 4-H Jr. Livestock Committee; ATV Safety – Power Sports, Milan and Milan FFA Chapter; Chemical Safety – David (Davey) Penterics from Crop Production Services, Saline; Emergency Preparedness – Susan Huehl, dairy farmer and registered nurse, Chelsea; Grain Safety – Paula Young and Carrie Roehm from John Marion Inc., Saline; Lawnmower Safety – Saline FFA; Tractor Safety – Scott Diuble from Diuble Equipment, Inc., Ann Arbor; Zoonotic Diseases – Natalie Horning and Ben Holbrook, Manchester; Farm Hazard Hunt – the Horning Family, Manchester; Washtenaw County Farm Bureau Promotion & Education Committee; Washtenaw County 4-H; and a Washtenaw County farm family, in efforts to support, grow and protect agriculture and those involved in production agriculture.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.