WABASH, Ind. — Driving defensively, having equipment ready and not over-stressing are three points farmers will want to keep in mind as part of their spring farm safety strategy.

 

Roger Peebles, who has been cultivating 1,750 acres of corn and soybeans for 35 years in Wabash County, tries to be patient with people driving on state highways and drive defensively.

 

“I try to make eye contact with people before turning,” he explained. “Don’t assume people will know when you are turning, even with your signal lights on. They won’t think like you do.”

 

Master Trooper Paul Daugherty with the Indiana State Police’s Peru post had other advice for farmers: “Don’t move your (farm) equipment on Friday at 5 p.m. Seek out low rush-hour times if possible, to move vehicles.”  It’s also important for farmers to know their location if they need help. “Saying ‘I’m in the back 40 acres’” is not really helpful, Daugherty said. “We can ‘ping’ cell phones in an emergency, but make sure you have your cell phone.”

 

Curt Campbell, Wabash County extension educator, said farmers need to remember the “three-car rule:” “The driver of a tractor being driven at a slow speed so that three or more vehicles are blocked and cannot pass on the left around the vehicle shall give right-of-way to the other vehicles by pulling off to the right of the right lane at the earliest reasonable opportunity and allowing the blocked vehicles to pass” (Indiana Code 9-21-5-7).

 

Slow-moving vehicle (SMV) signs and lights on tractors and implements are required, especially between dusk and dawn. “It’s a law that you should have a slow-moving vehicle sign on the equipment being towed unless the SMV sign can be clearly seen on the tractor,” Campbell said.

  

Stress can cause farm accidents as well. “Farmers can have unrealistic expectations to perform (during spring planting), which can make them anxious and more vulnerable to injury,” said Bill Field, professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University. “We see that when we investigate accidents.

 

“I think as we approach spring planting there’s a lot of stress, but eventually everyone gets their crops planted. You can’t change the weather or how wet the ground is. “I blame the economists and agronomists who say you need to plant your crop by June 15 or you will lose two bushels of corn per acre. Ignore the economists and agronomists. (When you can’t get into the field), use that time to make sure your equipment is in good condition,”  he advised.

 

 

A five-minute inspection of vehicles each morning  can catch small problems before they get large and expensive, according to a Purdue University publication Pesticides and Fleet Vehicles – Transporting Pesticides Safely. Farmers can check the oil, coolant, brake and transmission fluid, tire pressure and lights before leaving home or right after fueling.

 

Prevention is well worth it when considering the replacement cost, according to the Purdue publication: “New trucks cost $30,000-$35,000, and preventive maintenance can be budgeted, while breakdowns cannot. Repair costs can be astronomical: $3,500 for a new motor, $500 for a new set of tires and $1,000 for repairs to the cooling system.”

 

Besides using downtime to get equipment ready, Field also recommended having reasonable expectations of others.

 

“I have heard of a farmer sending a new hire to town to get a tank of chemicals and by the end of the day, the employee was dead (due to the truck he was driving having bad brakes),” Field said. “Expectations at this time of year are high, but farmers need to set realistic goals or expectations; people need to be trained.”

 

Field cautions farmers not to be too proud or wait too long to ask for help or call 911. While sitting in church one Sunday, he sat next to a farmer whose thumb was swollen and throbbing in pain from having stuck himself with the needle while vaccinating his pigs.

 

He had infection streaks going up his arm by this time, Field recalled: “I said, ‘You’re going to the hospital right now, before the collection!’”

 

Always keeping perspective is important, as well. “In a fire, what’s the first thing you would grab? It should be your daughter and not your laptop. The most valuable thing in a farmer’s life is his wife and children.”