Wallaces Farmer

From ATV safety to health screenings, this tent focuses on farm wellness.

Willie Vogt

August 23, 2022

3 Min Read
Teenage girl riding ATV
SAFE OPERATION: ATV safety is just one of the many topics to be covered in a visit to the Health and Safety Tent at the Farm Progress Show — a refresher for some, and an opportunity for newer riders to learn more.Ascent/PKS Media Inc./Getty Images

How do you feel? Is that a question you’ve asked yourself lately? When you’re visiting the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, perhaps getting an answer from a third party could be helpful. You’ll have that chance at the Health and Safety Tent.

“I like the idea of having a lot of this health and safety education all in one place for people,” says Marsha Cheyney, outreach coordinator for the Great Plains Center for Ag Health, based in Iowa City. “In my job, I do a lot of in-person outreach and education. This show offers the chance to reach so many more people.”

Cheyney has put together a comprehensive plan for the Health and Safety Tent focused on demonstrations, safety education and more. You can find all of these services on the north end of the northeast quadrant at 37N.

Demonstrations on hand

“We’ll have an ATV Tilt Table in the tent showing what can happen if you get at the wrong angle with a machine,” Cheyney says.

In addition, AgrAbility will be on hand to show ways equipment can be modified to make sure farmers can keep at it if tragedy occurs. AgrAbility representatives will be demonstrating a tractor lift system that can help a farmer get into the cab to do farm work. And there will be other demonstrations to check out, providing some hands-on insights into key safety and farm health topics.

Wellness and safety insights

On the safety education side, visitors will have the chance to connect with a range of support services. “We’ll have mental health support resources available for visitors; it’s a growing issue in agriculture,” Cheyney says.

In addition, there will be information about grain bin safety and ways to prevent falls on the farm. In the past two years, there have been several grain bin entrapments in the Midwest; getting tips on ways to avoid trouble could pay off for your farm.

“We’re also going to have a group on to talk about safety with gas containers,” Cheyney says. “The [Legacy of] Christopher Allsup Foundation was formed after the family lost a child to the explosion of a portable gas container. They provide a lot of education about that safety.”

In addition, there will be presentations about personal protective equipment for use on the farm. This information will focus on the right PPE for specific tasks, including crop protection use on the farm.

Plenty of information

Cheyney offers this list of topics you can check out during your visit:

  • mental health and stress

  • suicide prevention

  • opioid overdose prevention

  • lifts and other modifications to continue farming after a traumatic injury

  • gasoline safety education

  • railroad safety for farmers

  • pesticide safety and worker protection standard information

  • Stop the Bleed program

  • safe storage for firearms

  • foster care information

  • hazard mapping

  • farmer well-being resources

  • grain-handling safety

  • falls prevention on the farm

  • swine and livestock safety

  • infectious and zoonotic disease prevention

  •  ATV safety

Cheyney says the tent will also have areas where people can take a break with coffee and water available. “It’s a place to pause from all that walking,” she adds.

 

About the Author(s)

Willie Vogt

Willie Vogt has been covering agricultural technology for more than 40 years, with most of that time as editorial director for Farm Progress. He is passionate about helping farmers better understand how technology can help them succeed, when appropriately applied.

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