Ag & Natural Resources

It’s always time to think about farm safety

It’s a good time for all farmers to evaluate their own safety methods around machinery so they can avoid preventable accidents on their farms.

Whenever you work around or beneath farm machines or machine components held up by hydraulics, you should always engage the locking devices supplied by the manufacturer. Hydraulic systems can leak or rupture. Even someone helping you might hit the wrong lever, so it is important that you use the locking device every time, without exception.  Check the owner's manual to be sure you know how to use it.

Combine headers, skid-steer loader arms and round baler tailgates are just a few examples of machines that typically have locking devices, specifically for the purpose of safely performing maintenance or repairs. Such devices generally consist of mechanical supports such as steel pins or channels that prevent a hydraulic cylinder from retracting and lowering the machine, but since every machine is different, it is important to consult the owner's manual.

Older machines may not have safety locks, so you must have wood blocks or jack stands to hold up the machine - or angle iron or steel channel strapped to the hydraulic cylinder rod to prevent retraction, while someone is beneath it.

Regardless of a machine’s age, you never want to trust your life to anything supported by a hydraulic system.  Machines fail, and they do not care who you are.

Protecting Pollinators

Insects pollinate a large percentage of food crops grown in the U.S. and all over the world.  Many different species of pollinators exist, but the insect best equipped for this job is the honey bee. Honey bees are exceptionally efficient at collecting and transferring pollen among the flowers of a particular crop.  In a practice known as “flower fidelity” groups of foraging bees will visit just one type of flower, collecting and storing pollen in baskets located on their legs.  As the bees fly from flower to flower, pollen particles are transformed between male and female parts triggering the plant’s reproduction cycle which results in a fruit or vegetable that may eventually find its way to a dinner table. 

A growing concern for U.S. agricultural producers is the continuing decline of honey bee populations.  According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the number of colonies in Kentucky has dropped dramatically over the last century from 152,900 in 1909 to just 5,000 in 2009.

Many studies are underway to try to pinpoint the cause for this decline, and so far several factors have emerged as detrimental to honey bee health.  One of these involves the use of pesticides and insecticides which can produce harmful effects in other pollinators, too.

Approximately 4,000 species of native or wild bees assist the honey bee in making a large contribution to the pollination task.  They include everything from large bumblebees to tiny sweat bees.  There are miner bees, carpenter bees, mason bees, plaster bees and orchard bees -- all named for the types of nests they build.  Butterflies and some flies also pollinate certain plants. 

You can help promote and protect insect pollinators by following a few simple rules.  Never spray plants with insecticides when the plants are actively blooming.  If chemical applications are necessary, strive for infrequent use and choose selective products with minimal impact on natural resources, especially bees. 

Promote pollinators and invite them into your environment by planting a diverse landscape with flowers, trees and other greenery that bloom in succession from spring into fall.