Minnesota farmers who want to add safety equipment to their on-farm grain storage facilities are invited to apply for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s new Grain Storage Facility Safety Cost-Share program.

The program reimburses up to 75% of the cost to buy, ship and install eligible safety equipment for on-farm grain bins or silos. The program will pay up to $400 per bin or silo, with a limit of $2,400 per farm per year.

The Minnesota Legislature appropriated $50,000 for this new program earlier this year.

“We’ve seen many tragedies in the recent past around grain bin accidents and each one is devastating to a family and a whole community,” says Thom Petersen, state agriculture commissioner. “We’re thankful to legislators for allowing us to help farmers reduce the cost of reducing risk on the farm.”

Examples of eligible equipment include fall protection systems; engineering controls that prevent contact with an auger or other moving parts; dust collection systems that minimize explosion hazards; personal protective equipment that increases the likelihood of surviving a grain-bin-related emergency; grain silo air quality monitoring equipment; and other grain storage facility safety equipment with prior approval from MDA.

MDA is accepting applications through June 30, 2021, or until all funds are exhausted. Funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information and to apply, visit MDA’s Grain Storage Facility Safety Cost-Share webpage.

Source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all of its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.