Planting Safety & Your Grassroots Policy

Whether you’re getting a jump start on this year’s planting or just waiting a little bit longer, farmers like you know what it takes to keep safe during planting. After all, many farm safety steps are simply common sense to farmers. For example, you know it’s important to:

• Start planting season right by preparing machinery and performing preventative maintenance before you get in the field.
• Have a cell phone handy at all times. It can provide timely help in case of emergency.
• Share the roads. Be careful and considerate of other drivers.

Stress from breakdowns or rainy weather can make “knowing” what is safe and “doing” what is safe two different things. That’s why members of Illinois Farm Bureau have created a policy that helps bring safety to the forefront of your thinking.  Policy #94 Farm Safety, reads:

We encourage all county Farm Bureaus to develop and maintain an aggressive farm safety education program to help protect our current and future generations.  It is especially important that youth receive age appropriate training in farm safety.

We will work to enhance the safety of farmers by encouraging them to use and, when necessary, replace safety lighting, markings, and reflective devices that are of extreme importance when used on farm machinery.  We encourage the use and placement of reflective material and safety lighting on farm equipment that conforms with the latest American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) marking standards.

This spring, make a commitment to turn your common sense safety into common practice safety. To refresh your know-how, visit the safety section of this website. To learn more about your grassroots policy, call your county Farm Bureau.

And of course, Illinois Farm Bureau wishes you a safe planting season.