Don’t Skip Farm Safety During Harvest

Taking a pause on my coverage of the National FFA Organization during its annual convention, I want to touch base with you folks about staying vigilant this fall.

You might be listening to this in the cab of a tractor, hard at work to finish harvesting. But before you put it in high gear and rush down rows or fields, let’s take a minute to remember the importance of farm safety. California isn’t the only ag state racing against mother nature, A Farm Bureau Field Rep from North Carolina Callie Carson joins us.

“The challenge with safety is that it usually takes an accident for both farmers and communities to be safety minded. And if we're proactive and think about what we can do to mitigate or even eliminate unsafe practices on the farm, we can save injuries, headache, heartache, financial investments, in some instances, even a death on the farm that's related to an accident.”

Carson says harvest safety goes beyond the farmer and includes community members as well.

“Rural roadways have obstacles, curves, hills, blind spots, trees, so what we ask our motorists to do is just slow down and pay attention, look for equipment, put down the phone, eliminate as many distractions in the vehicle as possible, and then also pay attention. So, if they see a piece of farm equipment as soon as they see that piece of equipment, slow down immediately.”