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COLLEGE OF FOOD, AGRICULTURAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Safety Through the Seasons 2021

Ag Safety S.T.A.T. – Safe Tactics for Ag Today is prepared by the OSU Extension Agricultural Safety & Health Team. The goal is to provide seasonal safety news and activities that may be re-published in your own newsletters or programs. If you have safety-related questions or program ideas that you would like to share, please contact Dee Jepsen at jepsen.4@osu.edu.

Fall Season

Think Differently: A Path Toward Tranquility

Joseph Maiorano, PhD, Family and Consumer Sciences, OSU Extension, Harrison County Farming, as life, is neither easy nor predictable, and it does not ask our permission. We make mistakes, others treat us unfairly, and conditions don’t cooperate.

Do You Get the Winter Blues?

Bridget Britton, Behavioral Health Field Specialist ANR Those that work in the agriculture industry know that it doesn’t matter the time of year, it is always busy. The Winter season is no different it just has its own unique demands. However, there may be other things going on in our bodies right now.

The Thriving Farmer – Information to Help Farmers and Their Families Make Healthful Choices

Joseph Maiorano, OSU Extension, FCS Educator Harrison County Lunch: The Fuel You’ll Need Farmer, you work hard. During a 10-15-hour workday, you will burn between 2,500 and 6,750 calories (captaincalclulator.com, nd)! Before leaving for work, you may eat a nutritious breakfast, yet few farmers consume

Rural Roads in the Autumn

Wayne Dellinger, ANR Educator Union County Harvest season started several weeks ago and in many areas is well over halfway complete. With the changing of the seasons, we also see changes that need to be considered when it comes to roadway safety in agricultural communities.

Prevent Combine Fires During Fall Harvest

Dee Jepsen, Extension State Safety Leader and Wayne Dellinger, ANR Educator Union County Autumn weather conditions have led to an increase in combine fires. Two recommendations to prevent injuries and property damage include: preventative maintenance and pre-planning for fire emergencies.

AgrAbility 30 Year Anniversary

Laura Akgerman, Disability Services Coordinator, Ohio AgrAbility Program and OSU Extension Ohio AgrAbility invites you to join us in celebrating 30 years of AgrAbility! In October AgrAbility projects will be on Facebook and Twitter posting stories, videos and resources about the farmers, staff, stakeholders, Assistive Technology and equipment vendors who make AgrAbility possible.

Store Pesticides Safely and Securely

Mary Ann Rose, Ohio State University Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program The beginning and end of the growing season are good times to assess your pesticide storage. It’s wise to view your pesticide storage from a risk perspective – risks to workers and pesticide applicators, other people, and the environment.

U-Pick Apple Orchard Safety

J.T. Benitez, OSU Extension, ANR Educator Butler County Late summer into autumn means it is u-pick season on many agritourism farms across Ohio. It is a time for visitors to make a trip out to the farm to pick their favorite fruit or vegetable and spend quality family & friend time on your farm. As a farmer, it is a great way to diversify

National Farm Safety and Health Week 2021

Farm Safety Yields Real Results September 19-25, 2021 National Farm Safety and Health Week is a time to turn the spotlight on far too overlooked practices in agriculture. Safety and health always seem to ride under the radar. This week provides a space and platform for safety and health professionals across the country to curate a collective of resources to help farmers address safety and health needs and practices.

It’s Time to Break Down the Stigma

Bridget Britton, Behavioral Health Field Specialist ANR September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and with that comes the opportunity to raise awareness to help prevent even one more suicide from happening. When you live where you work the stress often never leaves a person’s mind.

Safe Handling of Livestock on the Farm and at the Show

Richard Purdin, OSU Extension, Adams County ANR/CD Educator As fair season rolls along many 4-H and FFA members are still proudly exhibiting their livestock projects they have worked hard all year to raise. Tending to livestock can be a lot of hard work and long hours but with all the hard work comes a feeling of accomplishment.

Stay Safe Watching Aerial Applications Over Farm Fields

Gigi Neal, ANR Educator Clermont County and Dee Jepsen, Professor and State Agricultural Safety Leader Many times, we see an airplane or helicopter going over head and it catches our attention to look up and see what kind of plane it is, or what they are doing. Some aircrafts can be personal planes,

Hay Baler Safety

Mark Badertscher, OSU Extension, Hardin County ANR Educator

Safely Keeping The Farm Clean Cut

Richard Purdin, OSU Extension, Adams County ANR/CD Educator Summer is here and many of the spring farm chores are complete, for many farmers this means cleaning up overgrown pastures, buffer strips, grassy waterways, and roadside ditches. Mowing road banks or field edges is a good practice to help control invasive weeds, increase visibility, or just make the property look nice.

Stay Hydrated this Summer

Kate Homonai, OSU Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Vinton County My dad tells a story about the summers he spent helping bale hay at his uncle’s farm. He and his cousins would spend hours outside each day, working beneath the hot sun and becoming drenched in sweat.

Keeping the Next Generation Safe

Lydia Flores, OSU Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, Morgan County Imagine a calm humid morning walking the fields with dad and the dog. The sun is just coming up over the trees as you check the moisture of the hay. Growing up on a farm is not always easy, but it does teach you the value of hard work.

Take Action Against Combine and Field Fires

Wayne Dellinger, ANR Educator Union County and Dee Jepsen, Professor and State Agricultural Safety Leader Weather conditions have helped Ohio wheat fields mature – but these same conditions can lead to an increase in fires to combine harvesters and crop fields.

Manure Pit Safety

Denny Riethman, ANR Educator Mercer County Wheat harvest will happen soon. A common practice with livestock farmers is to apply manure nutrients following harvest of the wheat. This increases the importance of reminding operators and applicators of following safety precautions when working around manure pits.

Can Animals Spread Disease to Humans?

Lydia Flores, OSU Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, Morgan County What is Zoonosis? While traveling or enjoying some outdoor activities, many people might encounter animals in either an urban or rural setting. Animals provide many benefits to people such as food, fiber, travel, sport, companionship, and education.

Staying Safe in the Sun

Kate Homonai, OSU Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Vinton County Do you ever stop to think about how amazing the sun is? It is a star that is tens of millions of miles away from earth, yet provides just the right amount of heat and light to support life on our planet.

Stay Safe Making Hay When the Sun Shines

Richard Purdin, OSU Extension, Adams County ANR/CD Educator For many livestock producers June is a busy month, finishing the crop planting, caring for livestock, and harvesting first cutting of hay. Hay harvest can be a very labor intensive and time-consuming job.

Summer Days Ahead: Don’t Ignore Heat Stress!

Mary Ann Rose, Pesticide Safety Education With the arrival of summer, the risk of heat stress increases. Farmers have an elevated risk of heat stress for obvious reasons – working outdoors. Activities that require protective clothing, such as pesticide application, further increase the risk.

One Question Could Save Someone’s Life

Bridget Britton, Extension Field Specialist, Behavioral Health The month of May helps us to be aware that warm weather is inching toward Ohio, it is also Mental Health Awareness month. May is a time to help us gain awareness and understanding of persons with mental or behavioral health problems or difficulties.

Teaching Youth to be Safe Around Livestock

Sabrina Schirtzinger, ANR Educator Knox County Owning and working livestock is the first step to teaching youth responsibilities on the farm. Younger children may not be aware of the dangers that come with this responsibility.

Balancing Your Health and the Spring To-Do List

Richard Purdin, OSU Extension, Adams County ANR/CD Educator The month of May is a busy time on the farm, from making hay to building fence, planting crops, and tending to livestock. For many small and medium sized farms these tasks are commonly placed on the shoulders of a few individuals.

Spring Pesticide Safety Reminders

Mary Ann Rose, Director, Pesticide Safety Education Program You probably worked on your sprayer and other major equipment over the winter to gear up for pesticide applications. Have you put any effort into preparing for applicator safety?

Pharmaceutical Waste, National Drug Take Back Campaign

Sarah Noggle, OSU Extension Educator, Agriculture, and Natural Resources, Paulding County What to do with your leftover medication? Many Ohio residents have expired or unused pharmaceutical products in their medicine cabinets and don’t know what to do with them.

Safe Measures Around the Post-Hole Digger = More Fence Built This Spring

Richard Purdin, ANR/CD Educator Adams County A common tool used on the farm is a tractor mounted post-hole auger/digger. A tractor mounted post-hole digger can reduce time and labor when building large stretches of fence.

Did you know Ohio ranks 4th in the U.S. for combine fires?

Dee Jepsen, Associate Professor, Agricultural Safety and Health While many combines are parked and inactive over the spring months, a team of Ohio State University students are thinking about fire hazards that occur to these machines while they are harvesting summer and fall crops.

Roadway Transport Safety of Anhydrous Ammonia Tanks

Dee Jepsen, Associate Professor, Agricultural Safety and Health As Anhydrous nurse tanks start rolling to the fields, roadway safety becomes a priority. This is a review of Ohio’s regulations to protect the transporter and the public.

Severe Weather on the Farm

Wayne Dellinger, ANR Educator Union County Being aware of weather conditions is nothing new to farmers. Weather is what dictates everything from when fieldwork can be done to how well crops yield. Severe weather awareness is an old topic that sometimes needs a reminder. Getting caught in the middle of a field when severe weather strikes is not the greatest of situations.

Springtime on Rural Roads

Wayne Dellinger, ANR Educator Union County Spring planting season will soon be under way across the State of Ohio. After challenging planting seasons in recent years, farmers will be taking advantage of every window of opportunity to get seeds in the ground.

Working Safely with Anhydrous Ammonia

Kent McGuire – OSU CFAES Safety and Health Coordinator Many farmers are applying anhydrous ammonia as a part of their spring planting season. Anyone working with anhydrous ammonia should be familiar with the safe use of the product, understand the potential for injury and know how to respond to an emergency.

Vomitoxin in Corn Grain Bins

Mark Badertscher, OSU Extension, Hardin County ANR Educator; with information from Pierce Paul, OSU Extension, Corn & Wheat Disease Specialist and Dee Jepsen, OSU Extension, Associate Professor and State Agricultural Safety Leader. Currently there is a lot of activity unloading grain bins and hauling corn to market. Cash bids are very good, the weather has broken after several weeks of cold temperatures

Pull the Strings Before Working Around the Bin

Richard Purdin, OSU Extension, Adams County ANR/CD Educator The Week of February 21st is recognized as grain bin safety week. Many producers will be working in or around grain storage structures to fulfill marketing contracts or sell their 2020 crop to purchase crop inputs for the upcoming 2021 growing season.

Is it pandemic fatigue, winter blues, or Seasonal affective disorder?

Laura Akgerman, Disability Services Coordinator / Ohio AgrAbility Coordinator It’s wintertime. The temperatures are cold, the days are short, and the nights are long. You have work to do, but you just don’t feel like doing it. The good news is that the shortest day of the year is behind us, and we are getting a few minutes more daylight every day.

Using Heat Lamps: Proceed with Caution!

Sabrina Schirtzinger, ANR Educator Knox County As temperatures get cold livestock owners search for ways to keep their livestock warm. Often livestock owners are in a hurry and think hanging a heat lamp will be temporary. In a hurry they quickly hang the heat lamp up in the corner of a stall using baling twine to keep a newborn kid or day-old chicks warm for the night.

Avoiding the Emergency Room This Winter

Richard Purdin ANR/CD Educator Adams County Winter is here and with winter comes inclement weather, unfortunately farmers and ranchers must tend to their chores no matter what mother nature may throw at them. The farm is filled with hazards and risk for slipping and falling.