“Another tragic loss”

I opened the message from Eric Rickenbach last week, and was shocked and saddened by the news that another tragedy involving a manure storage pit and methane gas had happened in Virginia.  Eric, who is involved with farm rescue education in conjunction with Penn State and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, lives in Berks County.  We have worked together over the years when I served in the legislature to develop and fund training programs for volunteer emergency responders when dealing with farm accidents.  My heart ached for the Showalter family as I wondered what I would have done if the same circumstances had unfolded at our farm.  When confronted with a choice of trying to save my family members, would I have realized the dangers of rushing in to help?  Thankfully, there was someone at the scene on the Showalter farm who kept two of the children from following their parents and siblings into the pit after sensing something was wrong when no one who went down came back out.

As I read Eric’s message, my thoughts drifted back three decades to a similar sad news story that happened in Berks County when deadly methane gas claimed the lives of several family members who climbed down into a manure storage pit under a chicken house.  That was the first incidence of this type of accident that I had heard about and it shocked the farm community in the mid-1970s.  It was hard to understand how this relatively new innovation for handling manure which was designed to make farmers’ lives easier could also claim the lives of farmers.  Even after thirty years of farm safety education about the dangers of methane gas, it is easy to forget about this deadly killer in the rush to get things done on the farm. 

Farming is a dangerous occupation.  We have to make instant decisions at times, working with livestock, intricate machinery, pesticides, storage structures, and rolling terrain.  Farm rescue experts emphasize the need to be cautious that more harm is not inflicted during an emergency.  But staying calm and waiting for help are difficult rules to follow when a loved one is involved.

When I attended one of the training sessions for volunteer fire fighters in our area, I learned that modern farm machinery poses new challenges for emergency responders since they are built differently and run differently than older models.  On any given farm in Pennsylvania, rescuers can find equipment that is brand new or a half century old.  Knowing what to do requires continuous training for farm equipment operators as well as emergency volunteers.  And that takes time.

 Farmers always seem to be in a hurry.  On our farms, there never seems to be enough hours in the day to get everything done.  Whenever we are “schuslich” (my Pennsylvania Dutch grandparents’ way of saying “doing something in a hurry without thinking”), we can get ourselves into serious trouble.  Or we become lackadaisical about potential hazards.  Accidents happen.  We learn from tragedy but, unfortunately, quickly forget or figure it happens only to other folks.  A front-page story in Lancaster Farming reminds us how quickly good news headlines can turn to sad news in the wake of a farm accident.  Painful to read about, more painful to experience first hand.

As we mourn the loss of one of our farming families, we must remember that safety training on farms is as important as knowing how to grow crops, raise livestock, and use the latest machinery or technologies.  No matter what age or experience level you are at in life, there are lessons to be learned to ensure your future continues in F-A-R-Ming.  For more information, check out these two farm rescue websites: www.agrescue.com or www.rescuetechs.com.

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