Safety

Why Are BBs Found in Beef? A Hidden Problem Costing the Industry Millions

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 20:13:59 GMT

According to the latest National Beef Quality Audit (NBQA), 100% of U.S. processing plants now report challenges with foreign materials, specifically BBs and metal shot embedded deep in muscle tissue. This hidden threat causes a 1% loss in total ground beef production annually, effectively robbing 89% of American consumers of one serving of beef per year.

Jessica Lancaster, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) senior director of product quality and safety research, warns because these materials are classified as regulatory adulterants, a single BB can lead to the condemnation of thousands of pounds of beef.

“That’s really challenging, because that’s not something we see on the surface of a carcass,” Lancaster explains. “Often that’s getting embedded deep into the muscle and sometimes even to the bone.”

She summarizes the issue is both widespread and expensive — and it starts long before cattle reach the packing plant. It’s present across the country, in both the fed beef supply and the cull cow and bull plants.

(Photos: West Texas A&M University, USDA)

BBs aren’t the only problem. Lancaster has received documentation of numerous incidences when remote drug delivery devices (darts) were lodged in places like lungs and deep muscles. Critically, these issues originate in the pre-harvest segment — the production side that producers can control — but often aren’t discovered until post-harvest, during further processing.

What Happens When a BB is Found in Ground Beef?

The consequences reach far beyond a single affected carcass. When trimmings from multiple animals are combined into combos for ground beef, foreign materials often go unnoticed until it’s too late.

“The challenge is we don’t find that product until it hits the grinder blade,” Lancaster says. “And at that point there is thousands of pounds that are then impacted, and there’s no way to know if there was one BB or 40 BBs in that load.”

Because there is no practical way to isolate only the contaminated portion, entire lots must be condemned. That means even producers who have done everything right can see products from their cattle included in a load that ends up discarded because of a few bad producers somewhere upstream.

“It’s not only the cattle who are contaminated with the foreign material that are impacted,” Lancaster stresses, “All of our producers who are doing the right thing also are facing loss of product because of the bad actors.”

How Much Money Does the Beef Industry Lose to Foreign Materials?

The economic impact is substantial. Lancaster’s team estimates that about 1% of ground beef is lost due to foreign material contamination. On the consumer side, that translates into over 89% of U.S. consumers getting one less serving of beef per year. In a market environment where beef demand is tight and every pound matters, those lost servings add up quickly.

“Product from one animal could tank product from eight animals,” Lancaster explains. “When we’re making a batch of that, we’re impacting 51 head of cattle. And every time an event happens, it costs the industry $75,000, and in most facilities, we’re seeing 140 events of this per year at each facility.”

Add that up across the industry and the bill comes to roughly $476 million annually.

Is Foreign Material in Beef a New Issue?

Beyond the economic cost, foreign materials in beef are a regulatory and food safety concern.

While finding foreign materials in beef is not a new challenge — it was first noted in the early ’90s — changing regulations have redefined foreign objects to be adulterants regardless of physical characteristics.

“Foreign material is an adulterant today,” Lancaster emphasizes. “Anytime we see that, there’s regulatory action that takes place. Any objects that are not inherent to the animal are considered foreign material and we should never have foreign material in our animals as they’re entering the processing facility.”

In other words, if BBs or other foreign objects are present, the product is no longer acceptable for the food supply.

Is Foreign Material in Beef an Animal Welfare Issue?

There is also an animal welfare dimension. For a BB or metal shot to end up lodged deep within tissue, it must be propelled there with significant force. Lancaster points out this is not just a product quality issue — it raises serious questions about how and why animals are being exposed to these projectiles in the first place.

What is the Industry Doing About It?

While all modern plants use metal detectors and other detection systems, they have physical and technological limits.

“If we think about these BBs, they’re so small,” Lancaster summarizes.

Just as airport detectors can miss very small items, plant systems may not reliably catch tiny shot deeply embedded in muscle or near bone.

Lancaster says she sees a two-pronged path forward: education and technology.

First, there’s a clear need for producer education. Many in the production segment still believe foreign objects are primarily a plant problem. Lancaster’s data tells a different story, showing a significant share of contamination originating on-farm or in the field. Education efforts aim to change behaviors like moving cattle with shotguns and to raise awareness of how even small lapses can snowball into costly food safety and economic events downstream.

Second, NCBA, as a contractor to the beef checkoff, and its research partners are exploring new detection and tracing tools. One major research direction is investigating whether foreign objects can be detected in live animals or more effectively at harvest and then traced back to their source. If successful, this could support enforcement mechanisms and targeted interventions, discourage risky practices and prevent adulterated animals from entering the supply chain unnoticed.

The goal is to scan animals as they move through chutes or other handling systems, identifying BBs or metal fragments before they enter the processing chain. She explains this could mean using imaging or scanning technologies to flag animals that pose a risk, allowing them to be diverted or more closely evaluated before they are combined into large ground beef lots.

Lancaster also stresses the industry can’t treat foreign materials as a side issue. For years, food safety conversations have centered primarily on biological hazards such as bacteria and pathogens. Those remain critical priorities, but today, foreign materials carry similar weight.

“I think we not only have to think about those biological hazards we always talk about with food safety,” she says, “but as we’ve seen foreign material become an adulterant, we truly have to take some actions to help prevent this impacting our beef demand.”

Ultimately, solving the foreign material challenge will require a combination of producer responsibility, better on-farm and field practices, new detection technologies and strong communication across the supply chain. By tackling the issue where it starts — and not just where it’s discovered — the industry can protect animal welfare, reduce costly product losses and ensure more safe, high‑quality beef makes it to consumers’ tables.

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How to Prevent Needlestick Injuries in Livestock Practice

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:30:05 GMT

Most injection injuries in food-animal practice never make it into an incident log. They happen, they sting and the work continues. But some of them are not minor. Some require urgent medical care, and recognizing which is which can prevent permanent damage.

Dr. Jeff Bender, veterinarian and director of the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center at the University of Minnesota, recently spoke on the significance of accidental self-injection as an underreported occupational hazard in livestock medicine. It can be common to continue working, assuming the exposure is harmless, but that assumption is not always correct.

Immediate Response: Slow Down and Assess

When a needlestick occurs, the first step is to stop. Do not finish the chute run. Do not assume it is minor.

Wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water and note the time of exposure. Identify the exact product involved, how much was injected and where. A superficial puncture through clothing is very different from a deep injection into a finger or thumb.

Bring the product bottle and label to medical care. Most physicians and emergency departments are unfamiliar with livestock pharmaceuticals. The clinical risk depends heavily on whether the product is oil-based, long-acting, hormonal, sedative or modified live.

As Bender emphasizes: “Make sure you grab the bottle, take this bottle with you to the urgent care or the clinic, and let them know this is what you got.”

Tetanus status should also be confirmed at the time of evaluation.

Certain exposures warrant immediate medical attention:

Oil-adjuvanted vaccines
Sedatives, such as xylazine
Hormonal products, such as prostaglandins

Further, if there is increasing pain, swelling, pallor or neurologic symptoms, medical attention is required. These are not wait-and-see injuries.

Not All Products Carry Equal Risk

The severity of a needlestick injury depends far more on the product than on the needle.

Oil-adjuvanted vaccines pose the greatest risk for local tissue damage. Oil-based products can trigger intense inflammatory reactions, increasing pressure within confined spaces like digits. Compartment syndrome, tissue necrosis and surgical intervention are real possibilities. Any digital injection with an oil-based vaccine should be treated as a potential surgical emergency until proven otherwise.

Sedatives present a different type of danger. Even small amounts absorbed systemically can lead to hypotension, respiratory depression, bradycardia or sudden collapse. Exposures involving sedatives warrant urgent evaluation and monitoring.

Bender shares a story highlighting how unpredictable animal behavior adds risk: “Recently, one of our residents had xylazine, and a rambunctious horse caused her to squirt it in her eye. She passed out, and luckily, she didn’t hit her head or anything.”

Hormonal products also deserve heightened caution. Prostaglandins and other reproductive hormones can have systemic effects and pose particular risk to pregnant individuals. What is a small dose for a cow can have meaningful physiologic consequences in a human.

Modified-live vaccines raise concerns about zoonotic potential depending on the organism involved, reinforcing the need for product-specific evaluation. Antibiotics and long-acting depot formulations are often underestimated. Allergic reactions, hypersensitivity and prolonged local inflammation are possible, particularly with depot products that extend tissue exposure time.

The guiding principle is simple: identify the compound before deciding the injury is minor.

Why Human Medicine May Struggle to Advise

Emergency physicians rarely encounter livestock vaccines or reproductive hormones. When a veterinarian or farm worker presents after an accidental injection, the provider may not know the formulation, adjuvant type or pharmacologic effect.

“Usually when I ask my physician colleagues this question… they really don’t have a clue,” Bender says.

Without clear product information, evaluation becomes guesswork.

This places veterinarians in the role of interpreter. Providing the exact product name, formulation and safety data sheet allows healthcare providers to assess risk accurately. Keeping that documentation accessible in clinic trucks or digital files is a simple and effective safeguard.

Prevention Starts Before the Stick

Injection injuries are often described as inevitable. In reality, many are predictable.

Fatigue at the end of processing days, poorly restrained animals and hurried recapping of needles are high-risk moments. Sedatives and oil-based vaccines deserve heightened procedural caution. For certain products, two-person administration may be appropriate.

Facility conditions also matter. Safe chutes, adequate lighting and readily available sharps containers reduce impulsive decision-making. A stocked first-aid kit everyone can locate is not optional. On many farms, especially those with newer employees or language barriers, safety training around injectable products may never have been formalized.

Risk reduction in this context does not require complex protocols. It requires intentional practice.

Key prevention points include:

Avoid recapping needles whenever possible
Ensure secure animal restraint before injection
Use appropriate needle length and gauge
Keep sharps containers accessible
Review high-risk drugs with staff before use

Take It Seriously

Food animal practice involves powerful pharmaceuticals administered in dynamic environments. Accidental injection is a predictable hazard of the profession.

The obligation is straightforward. Stop when it happens. Identify the product. Seek care when indicated. Build systems that reduce risk for the next time.

Needlestick injuries are not badges of experience. They are occupational exposures. And they deserve respect.

Tragic Turn: Trailer of Show Pigs Bursts Into Flames on I-80

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 20:50:48 GMT

With the windows rolled down and the sun on his face, Chad Rieck admits he was having a pretty good day driving down Interstate 80. He was pulling a trailer with four gilts, and one of those gilts was bringing home the title of Third Overall Purebred Breeding Gilt from the Aksarben Stock Show.

For Chad and his wife, Amy, spending precious time with their 17-year-old daughter Hollynn at a stock show is something they don’t take for granted. Their busy daughter, now a senior, was juggling the show weekend with homecoming, volleyball and dance team. Because of this, she drove separately to the show with her mom to squeeze in more of her school activities.

Separated by a couple minutes on the interstate, they were chatting on the phone keeping each other awake on the drive from Grand Island, Neb., back to their farm in Creston, Iowa. Suddenly, the traffic slowed down and their day took a tragic turn.

A car burning alongside I-80 held up traffic for miles.

(NDOT)

Igniting the Fire

“I remember my wife saying, ‘Traffic is starting to get bad,’” Rieck recalls. “I told her there was an accident up ahead and we’d get through it eventually.”

When he came upon the scene, he discovered a car burning alongside the road. By this time, he had rolled up his windows and slowly drove by the car. No emergency vehicles were on the scene, so Chad estimates the fire had probably started within three to five minutes of when he passed it.

“The front of the car was fully engulfed in flames,” Rieck describes. “The driver’s portion to the back of the car was starting to get hot – hot, hot flames. My fear of driving by was, ‘What if there’s a gas tank there, and that gas tank blows? That’s going to be bad.’”

When he drove by, something burst.

“It wasn’t the gas tank that blew, but something, whether it was a fuel line, a tire or whatever, blew a ‘poof’ of flames,” he says.

About a mile after he passed the car on fire – maybe one or two minutes at most – Rieck noticed smoke rolling out of the trailer. At first, he thought maybe some smoke from the fire got in through the open trailer windows. Then, he wondered if he blew a tire.

“I’m looking in the mirrors checking for that and continually rolling,” he says. “I see a semi behind me begin to flash his lights at me. That’s when I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve got problems.’”

Fortunately, he was coming upon an exit ramp. He jumped off the interstate and threw the truck in park as soon as he could.

“My wife’s still on the phone with me at this point,” he says. “I jump out of the truck and see the trucker running up with a couple of fire extinguishers. Because of him, I was able to get the back doors opened on the trailer. We got most of the flames down but didn’t have enough to get the fire completely out.”

When he opened the door, he saw that their banner-winning Poland China gilt was already dead, but the three other pigs were hanging on to life.

“The Poland gilt was on the back of the trailer and had somehow broken out of her pen trying to get away,” he says.

The burning trailer was caught on camera by the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT).

(NDOT)

Roadside Rescue

The fire picked up again as he tried to figure out how to get the pigs off the trailer.

“When I parked the trailer at the show, we left some tack in the trailer. So, I locked the ramp and the driver side walk-through door,” he explains. “I ran to get the key that I thought was in the truck, but there was no key there. Now, I’m just frantic.”

With no way to get to the three pigs still on the trailer, he grabbed for the big cart they hauled tack with that was standing upright in the back pen.

“Not a smart deal,” Rieck recalls. “I grabbed it with my hand, and now I’ve got some nice blisters. But even if I could have moved that cart, it wouldn’t have mattered. I had to get the pigs out the side ramp.”

The trucker ran back with a crowbar and Rieck broke the latches off the ramp door to get the ramp down. Flames greeted him. He was running out of options. He ran around to the other side’s ramp, broke that latch off and ended up getting two pigs out.

“The third pig was scared and wouldn’t come out, so I had to reach in through one of the sides to push her out,” he says. “I ended up with some burns on my arm from that, but I finally got her out.”

At this point, the trailer is still on fire. The trucker told Rieck to unhook his truck and pull it away from the trailer now that the pigs were out.

“I would have never thought of doing that,” he adds. “We had a gas can and small generator in the tack room of the trailer, so I went to work to get that out of there before we had an even bigger problem. Fortunately, the tack room was in decent shape, likely because there was a door between it and the main part of the trailer.”

Once the fire truck arrived, they focused on the trailer first. Megan Hobbs says she was able to gather buckets from the tack room to start filling to get to water all three pigs who were alive at the time. Unfortunately, they lost the Duroc, so they had to turn their focus to the remaining two.

(Megan Hobbs)

Meanwhile, people began showing up and helping with the pigs that were now scattered.

“I had one pig walking down the exit ramp,” Rieck says. “Meanwhile, one gilt was hunkered down under a tree in the ditch and the third was dying alongside the exit ramp. I’m in shock at this point – walking around and asking myself why.”

Stock show people he had never met before like Joe and Megan Hobbs of Newton, Kan., turned around and came back to help.

“As soon as we arrived at the scene, there was another young lady who worked for Legacy Livestock Imaging that had also stopped to help,” explains Megan Hobbs. “We immediately just jumped into action getting any and all water available to help cool the pigs down. At the beginning all we had was cooler water and water bottles. In those situations you don’t ask for permission, you just go with what your gut tells you to do.”

(Chad Rieck)

A Little Bit Ironic

When the York Fire Department showed up, they quickly went to work extinguishing the fire in the trailer. Hobbs says she kept running water back and forth from the firetruck to the people caring for the gilts alongside the road.

“God put us in the right place at the right time,” Hobbs says. “We trusted our gut turning around to go help as we just knew it was probably one of our own from the livestock industry that needed help.”

The firefighters on the scene also reached out to a firefighter in a nearby department, David May, who had show pigs.

“I received a call from dispatch when I was about 5 miles from my farm heading home with pigs from the show,” May says. “They said there was a vehicle fire involving a trailer with larger pigs and asked if I could help wrangle and haul the surviving pigs. Of course, I didn’t hesitate and was already on the move.”

May devised a plan to get his pigs off his trailer quickly and navigate through the piled-up interstate traffic.

“I had my 16-year-old daughter Braxtyn with me, so we began talking through things on the drive there,” May says. “I even joked with her, ‘It’s probably someone who kicked our butt today.’ But that didn’t cause either of us to hesitate to help however possible.”

When May got to the scene, he immediately recognized the pickup. It had been parked directly beside his truck during loadout about 45 minutes ago.

“I recognized the people and confirmed I didn’t know them,” May says. “I parked and walked up to assess and gather information. Within a minute, another Iowa trailer showed up to get the live hogs. We discussed what to do with the now two deceased pigs. I offered to put them on my trailer and dispose.”

After all the pigs were on trailers and the firefighters had inspected Rieck’s trailer to confirm it was safe to haul home, Rieck went over to talk to Braxtyn and thank her for coming to help.

Hollynn Rieck’s Champion Poland and Third Overall Purebred Breeding Gilt at Aksarben.

(Legacy Livestock Imaging)

“For some reason, I wanted to try to cheer this kid up who had just seen this devastation,” Rieck says. “I tried to distract her by asking if she showed a pig that day, and she said, ‘Yes, I was third place with my Poland gilt.’”

It was definitely a little ironic, both dads admit. Their kids had been competing against each other just a few hours earlier. They loaded their pigs up beside each other and took off about the same time. As they got back into their trucks and trailers for the second time that day, they both spent some time reflecting on their drive home.

A Case of Bad Luck

Hollynn drove her dad back in the truck and trailer because he was still in shock. All Rieck could think about was what he could have done differently.

“I saw a number of trailers roll right on by as we stood there with the trailer smoldering,” Rieck says. “I know the next time I see a car fire, I’m going to feel like Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights. I’m going to be like, ‘Don’t drive through it.’ Maybe I could have gotten in the ditch more, but that’s not safe either.”

It was the kind of incident that you could never predict, May says. Typically, a trailer fire starts with a bad wheel bearing, then the wheel gets hot or locks up. Eventually, the tire catches on fire and results in heavy black smoke that’s easily visible.

(Chad Rieck)

“Most livestock trailer fires start on the outside of the trailer,” May says. “But this fire started inside the trailer. This was a completely freak accident.”

The odds of something hot coming off the car at the precise moment Rieck drove by while also entering the trailer is one in trillions, he adds.

“It’s a bad-luck lottery. It could never have been predicted,” May says. “But, just like so many instances in life, you just have to react and adapt as plans change.”

Still, Rieck says he learned some valuable lessons going through this experience. He will make sure his next trailer has fire extinguishers. He won’t travel with his doors locked on his trailer. He’s also going to invest in some wireless cameras to put into his trailer.

Stock Show Support

When they returned home, a veterinarian confirmed the gilts who survived the trailer fire needed to be euthanized, as their injuries were too severe. Rieck says it was hard on Hollynn to walk through an empty pig barn the next day. Although it’s not an uncommon thing, as every show season comes to an end, this was not the ending she expected. She had high hopes of taking the Poland gilt to the American Royal in a few weeks.

Hollynn won Champion Poland China Gilt and Third Overall Purebred Breeding Gilt at Aksarben.

(Amy Rieck)

For Rieck, the hardest part was calling the breeders who leased them the gilts and telling them what happened.

“The personal financial portion of this isn’t much compared to having to contact those breeders and let them know about the fire,” Rieck says. “We work with Hunter Langholff to get some of our pigs. I can only imagine what the conversation was like with me screaming and yelling about the pigs right after it happened. I’ll never forget Hunter calmly saying, ‘Do not worry about that. These breeders will only care that you, Hollynn and Amy are fine. Pigs can be replaced.’”

With a few tears in his eyes, Rieck says he never wants to take his stock show friends for granted.

“Stock show people are pretty special,” he adds. “Because guess what? We all wanted to win that day. We raise our kids in the show ring and in the show barn for a reason. It’s so we can be around these people. My daughter is going to be a much stronger person because of the experiences that she’s had winning and losing in the show ring and yes, even going through this trailer fire.”

Hollynn says she’s already learned a lot from the fire.

“I am so thankful for all of the people who stopped to help us during our emergency,” she says. “This is living proof that the stock show industry is the best thing to be a part of. The amount of love, thoughts and prayers I have received from people has been astronomical. At the end of the day, I am just grateful my family is ok and that I will forever be a part of such an amazing industry.”

As May reflects on what happened, he says he’s not surprised by the overwhelming support people provided to the Rieck family.

“It’s what we do for each other in all aspects of agriculture, not just livestock,” May says. “I’m glad I was able to assist as needed here and glad my daughter was able to see value in helping others even when it’s not always pretty fairy dust and rainbows.”

Meet AGwagon: The American Truck Built By Farmers, For Farmers

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 21:06:19 GMT

There are many distinct varieties of trucks — fire trucks, garbage trucks, tow trucks and cement trucks, for example — but oddly enough, there has never been a pickup truck 100% purposely-built for farmers and ranchers, until now.

Certified Agriculture Dealerships (CAD) has teamed up with Fox Factory Performance Vehicles to create AGwagon pickup truck aftermarket kits. The kits convert off-the-factory-line trucks into rugged and tough, back 40 devouring, farm equipment hauling beasts.

Before the AGwagon, most farmers upgraded and ruggedized trucks with cash out-of-pocket. That can get expensive. Original equipment manufacturer-installed front ends, for example, are not built to withstand the pounding that driving fields and hauling equipment and other heavy loads everyday places on a pickup. Many farmers end up replacing a farm truck’s worn out front end every other year or so, according to CAD reps.

AGwagon offers Ultra HD front bumper with winch mount and grille protection, along with premium fog lights and a front bumper light cannon upgrade.

(Matthew J. Grassi)

Now, farmers can finance and order a purposely built AGwagon through CAD’s 200-plus dealer network, and it shows up ready to take an absolute pounding from day one, from the beefed up front end to the ultra-heavy-duty back bumper.

There are several pre-configured options and features to choose from, starting at $30,000 for a basic tier of upgrades and topping out at around $50,000 for the top-of-the-line package. Farmers can also order ala carte to pick and choose the features that best fit their intended use.

The kits are brand agnostic (it just needs to be a new domestic truck and over half a ton) and assembled in the USA at Fox Factories’ Trussville, Ala., plant.

The AGwagon kits were built off feedback from a panel of 14 farmers and ranchers. The features that made the final cut are mainly centered around making trucks more durable and rugged, as well as adding in high performance and comfort features. Notably, there is an option to install a ruggedized Starlink Internet terminal on top of the cab for on-the-go connectivity, and there is an integrated two-way radio system available.

“What CAD and Fox Factory were able to do with AGwagon is what I personally don’t see enough of in the ag sector, and that is going to the farmers first, and to the ranchers first, and finding out from them what they need for a pickup truck to be more functional,” says farmer Jeff O’Connor.

O’Connor raises soybeans in northeast Illinois (Kankakee to be exact) and he participated in the farmer panel. Having reviewed the first AGwagon prototype, O’Connor likes the stepped-up durability, internet connectivity and LED lighting add-ons that will help farmers working long days.

“I’ve still got a 79-year-old dad — who’s soon to be 80 — helping me,” O’Connor states. “I’m upgrading lights in our shed just so it has better lighting for safety. You hate to lose skilled labor because they can’t see where their feet are going. So I am glad to see they really made [lighting] a major, major part of the truck and its ability to serve the operator.”

CAD hosted an unveiling of its prototype model, built onto a Ford Super Duty pickup, in Columbus, Ohio, last week. Speaking to reporters, CEO Pat Driscoll highlighted how the company worked alongside farmers to bring their feedback to life.

“They said ‘give me a heavy-duty front end that will hold up for years’, and that’s what we have here,” he says. “Easy bed access was also at the top of the list. That’s why you see the fold-away steps on the side, because none of us are getting younger and we need a little help. One of the other things they wanted was high intensity, 360-degree LED lighting because work doesn’t stop when it’s dark. This truck gives you 360-degrees of LED lighting for as long as you need it.”

For those curious, the AGwagon name was picked because the truck “captures the defining characteristics of the original AGwagon aerial application plane — reliability, longevity and capability,” Driscoll says.

Special financing is available, and all AGwagons include a three-year, 36,000-mile warranty on all installed components. Learn more about the AGwagon’s features and multiple upgrade packages at agwagon.com .

The AGwagon will only be available from Certified Agriculture Dealerships. To locate your nearest CAD, head over to AgTruckTrader.com .

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Stay Safe this Silage Harvest Season

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 17:17:31 GMT

During the rush of corn silage harvest, safety often takes a back seat. However, tragedy can strike in the blink of an eye. Kansas State Extension offers these tips to remember before heading out into the fields this season.

Tractor Rollovers

Operating large machinery during harvest is always a dangerous job. Unfortunately, tractor rollovers have accounted for about 50% of the approximately 250 tractor-related fatalities reported annually in the U.S. To minimize rollover risks, consider the following:

Rollover protective structures create a zone of protection around the tractor operator. When used with a seat belt, rollover protective structures prevent the operator from being thrown from the protective zone and crushed by the tractor or equipment drawn by it.
A straight drop off a bunker silo wall is a significant risk, so never fill higher than the top of the wall.
Sight rails should be installed on above-ground walls. These rails indicate the location of the wall to the tractor operator, but they are not intended to hold an over-turning tractor.
Install lights to the rail if filling will occur at night.
When filling bunker silos and drive-over piles, pack tractor operators should always form a progressive wedge of forage, which provides a minimum slope of 1 to 3 for packing.
To reduce the risk of a tractor rollover, it is important to maintain a minimum slope of 1 to 3 on the sides and ends of a drive-over pile.
Tractors should be backed up steep slopes to prevent rollbacks.
Use low-clearance, wide-front-end tractors equipped with well-lugged tires to prevent slipping.
Add wheel weights and weights to the front and back of the tractors to improve stability.
When using front-end loaders to move forage to the bunker or pile, do not elevate the bucket any higher than necessary, thereby helping to keep the center of gravity low.
When 2 or more pack tractors are used, establish a driving procedure to prevent collisions.

Truck Rollovers

Trucks can overturn on steep forage slopes, particularly if the forage is not loaded and packed uniformly.
Raise the dump body only while the truck is on a firm surface to prevent an overturn.
As the bed is raised for unloading, it is important that the load center of gravity stay between the frame rails of the truck frame.
Trucks are less stable as the bed is raised, particularly if the surface is not perfectly flat.
A tire rut or depression from a previous load, low tires on one side of a truck, uneven loading of a truck, or a wind gust increase the risk of a truck tipping over during unloading, especially when 2 or more of these hazards combine at a single time point.

Reduce Risks

Keep machine guards and shields in place to protect the operator from an assortment of rotating shaft, chain, and V-belt drives; gears and pulleys; and rotating knives on forage harvesters, wagons, and silage feeding equipment.
Keep nonworkers away from traffic areas.
Never allow people on foot (especially children) near the moving harvest and transport equipment in the field or people on foot near a bunker silo or drive-over pile during filling or feed-out. (4) Adjust rear-view mirrors.
When inspection or servicing work is needed, shut down the engine and remove and pocket the keys to prevent accidental starting by another person.
Mount and dismount the tractor or forage harvester using a debris-free access ladder and steps and handholds. Maintain a 3-point contact as you climb and always face the machine.
Stop the machine before lubricating, adjusting, inspecting, or unplugging. Wait for the cutter head to come to a complete stop before adjusting or unplugging.
Never approach the blades of a silage defacer while the machine is in operation.
Wear snug clothing.
Use reverse alarm devices or a remote video camera on large or oversized machines to increase visibility and warn others that you are operating the equipment in a reverse direction.
Use standard agricultural hand signals to communicate with others when operating machinery or when helping with machinery movement.
Monitor weather and field conditions as they relate to safety and adjust the harvest accordingly.
Be sure all equipment operators are competent and trained for the jobs they are doing.
Employers should remind forage harvester, truck, and tractor operators to be careful, use seat belts, and never take unnecessary risks. The reminder should be made at the beginning of every working day.

How to Keep Farm Kids Out of Danger

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Every day, 33 serious injuries involving children occur on a farm or ranch in the United States, according to the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety.

The leading cause of injury and death for all ages on farms is large equipment. That’s why Tawnie Larson, a project consultant for the Kansas Agriculture Safety and Health program at Kansas State University, urges farm and ranch owners to allow only youth with proper training and experience to drive large equipment.

“Farm kids do things like drive tractors all the time, which may be not too challenging for some,” she said in a K-State release . “The issue is that, cognitively, they are not prepared to safely handle a situation where something goes wrong, and that’s how major accidents happen.”

Her advice to adults is simple. Demonstrate how to do things safely when children are young. Then, as they get older, take them to formal tractor safety trainings.

“Safety starts before kids hop up into a tractor’s cab,” Larson said in the release.

It’s important for parents to determine their child’s capacity to work beforehand by their mental – not physical – maturity.

“Just because a kid is taller or bigger doesn’t mean they are more developed mentally than others. You can send out older, stronger kids to work, and they might have issues following instructions or rules you’ve set and injure themselves. Farm kids aren’t mini-adults; they might physically look capable, but that does not always translate to completing a job safely,” she said.

Avert accidents and injuries on the farm by providing specialized equipment and implementing safety strategies that keep children focused on the job at hand.

“They can install a ROPS (rollover protection structure) device to tractors without cabs, to keep children out of harm in case of a machine tipping over. Kids who wear their seatbelts will also be more secure in a situation like that,” Larson noted. “I would also remove any distractions like their phones, loud music and friends riding with them while they are driving equipment.”

Although modern tractors typically have a “buddy” seat that an additional passenger can sit in for training purposes, Larson reminds producers not to exceed the number of passengers recommended for a vehicle.

“One of the biggest safety issues is having extra riders – especially in a tractor without a cab. Just say no to additional people because there have been many injuries and fatalities where a child with no place to sit is held while driving,” she said in the release.

Actions Speak Loudest
It’s common for children to follow the example of the older people around them. When it comes to farm safety, actions off speak louder than words. Larson recommends that parents become proper role models to teach their children farm safety.

“In general, farm safety is an attitude and a habit, not something that you remember to do,” she said in the release. “Parents need to create this attitude and habit in their daily life for children to model. If you find yourself using the common expression, ‘Do as I say, Not as I do,’ you are doing safety wrong.”

Parents need to display safe behaviors and explain to their children why, she added in the release.

“Model the job, show them how to do it, watch them do it safety and then provide further advice as needed,” she said. “If you create a good, safe environment, fewer bad things will happen.”

Farm safety materials and a list of age-appropriate tasks are available online through Cultivate Safety, a website from the National Farm Medicine Center .

Read more:
One Family’s Tragedy Sparks Nationwide Farm Safety Project
Kids on the Farm: Don’t Take Your Eyes Off Safety

Asian Longhorned Tick Now Found in 19 States

Wed, 08 May 2024 13:08:21 GMT

Ticks are an issue beef and dairy producers and veterinarians contend with every year. But not all ticks warrant the description USDA offers for the Asian longhorned tick – “invasive pests that pose a serious threat to livestock.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in April 2023 that Asian longhorned ticks (ALT) have been found in 19 states: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

(Farm Journal)

When Bovine Veterinarian (a Farm Journal publication) first reported on ALT (Haemaphysalis longicornis) in 2022, it was in 17 states.

Since then, Indiana and Massachusetts have been added to the list.

ALTs Like To Feed On Cattle
The ticks, which originated in East Asia, feed on many hosts, including beef and dairy cattle. Large numbers of ALTs can infest a single host, impacting growth, performance and milk production.

ALT also carry Theileria orientalis (Ikeda genotype), a protozoal organism that causes disease in cattle by infecting red blood cells.

In some regions of New Zealand and Australia, for instance, the tick can reduce production in dairy cattle by an estimated 25%.

In extreme cases, an infestation of ALT can cause bovine deaths, due to blood loss.

An Ohio State University (OSU) assistant professor in veterinary preventive medicine, Risa Pesapane, found that to be the case in 2021. A farmer called OSU to report three of his 18 cattle, heavily infested with the ticks, had died.

(Farm Journal)

“One of those was a healthy male bull, about 5 years old. Enormous. To have been taken down by exsanguination by ticks, you can imagine that was tens of thousands of ticks on one animal,” said Pesapane, in a press release developed by Emily Caldwell, OSU staff writer.

‘Huge Numbers’ Are Often Found
An analysis published in the Journal of Medical Entomology reveals that scientists gathered nearly 10,000 ticks in roughly 90 minutes in the Ohio cow pasture. As a result, Pesapane estimated there were more than 1 million ALT in the roughly 25-acre pasture.

“Where the habitat is ideal, and anecdotally it seems that unmowed pastures are an ideal location, there’s little stopping them from generating these huge numbers,” she said.

One of the factors that make the ALT so difficult to control is the females can reproduce asexually. Researchers say each female can lay up to 2,000 eggs at a time.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website says “it only takes a single Asian longhorned tick to create a population in a new location.”

Target Control Methods Early
Despite applications of pesticides, the ALTs were still present in the Ohio pasture in 2022, the following year, making them what Pesapane called a “long-term management problem.”

“For a variety of reasons, I tell people you cannot spray your way out of an Asian longhorned tick infestation – it will require an integrated approach,” Pesapane said in the news release.

“It would be wisest to target them early in the season when adults become active, before they lay eggs, because then you would limit how many will hatch and reproduce in subsequent years,” she added.

To learn more about how to control ALT, producers and veterinarians can tap into these two resources:

The American Association of Bovine Practitioners addresses control of ALTs in its Have You Herd podcast, which is available here .

Virginia Cooperative Extension offers the online resource, “Managing the Asian Longhorned Tick: Checklist for Best Management Practices for Cattle Producers.”

Stop the “If Only This Would Happen” Game Now

Tue, 07 May 2024 21:09:35 GMT

You need to do what you need to do to make your life better. Is it really that simple? Ted Matthews, a mental health practitioner with Rural Minnesota Mental Health Support , told AgriTalk’s Chip Flory that far too many people hear mental health and immediately think mental illness.

For many farmers that Matthews talks to, it’s “not that bad.” Farmers say they can handle the stress, Matthews says. This works until it doesn’t.

“We’re constantly pressured into this concept that it has to get to a certain point before we take care of ourselves,” Matthews explains. “And that’s absolutely stupid.”

Instead, farmers need to take care of themselves now, so they don’t have to worry about going down that road later.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Not only is it a time to address the challenges faced by millions of Americans living with mental health conditions, but it’s also a reminder to take care of your mental health.

“Everybody’s different,” Matthews says. What drives one farmer crazy may not phase another farmer at all. He encourages people to take a step back when stress sets in and evaluate what’s under their control and what’s not.

“We can’t control the water. We can’t control the sun. We can’t control a lot of different things,” he says. “But we can focus on the things we can control. That will give us enough energy to get those things done. Far too often I see people get so wrapped up in all the things that they can’t do, that they end up not doing the things they can do because they’re so stressed.

Knowledge, however, doesn’t always result in the stress going away.

“Just because I know something, doesn’t mean I’m not going to get stressed,” he explains. “That’s something that we always need to look at. I always tell people, be nice. Take care of yourself. Do what you need to do to make your life better.”

Click here to download the eBook “Your Guide to Mental Health.”

Matthews says if you want to be more supportive of a farmer, say, “It must be really hard,” and let them tell you how they’re feeling about it. Don’t tell them what they should feel. Let them tell you what they do feel.

Everyone is always racing around like they’re at the Indy 500, he adds.

“I’m not saying it’s not important to get the crop in, but if you can take an extra half hour to have a cup of coffee, take an extra 10 minutes to talk to your wife or your kids or both, it will help,” Matthews says. “Take care of that end so it does not become an overwhelming stressor.”

Remember that your thoughts matter. When stress sets in, ask yourself these questions:
-What can I do to make life better?
-How can I listen better?
-How can I take care of myself better?
-How can I look at my mental health in a way that says, ‘I’m feeling better, and if I’m not, I’m responsible to make myself feel better.’

It’s time to stop waiting on others to step in, he adds.

“If only they would do this. If this happened, then I would (fill in the blank),” Matthews says. “Stop thinking those thoughts because we have no control over them. Focus on the things you do have control over, and you’re going to be a healthier person.”

Read More:

Mental Health on the Farm: One Swine Production Manager’s Story

5 Ways to Work Through Difficult Times

By Her Own Hand: A Farm Girl’s Miraculous Journey from Death to Hope

Pay Attention to Warning Signs of Stress

Lack of Understanding Leads to Loneliness in Farmers

Toxic Grit: Is Our Greatest Strength Our Greatest Weakness on the Farm?

Stress: Action is Key

Farmers, Ranchers Have Ways to Manage Stress

Suicide Prevention: Your Worth Isn’t Measured By The Markets

Don’t Let Social Distancing Lead to Social Isolation

Connect With Farmers In-Person On Mental Health

Simple, Daily Habits to Help Manage Stress

Pay Attention to Warning Signs of Stress

When Your Trampoline Breaks: Avoid Isolation

7 Steps to Reduce Farm and Financial Stress

How and Why to Laugh, Even When it’s Hard

Watch for Signs of Suicidal Risk on Your Farm

Wild Pigs Kill More People Than Sharks, Shocking New Research Reveals

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:43:28 GMT

Hogzilla or Jaws? More humans are killed annually by wild pigs than by sharks, a startling new study reveals. By slice, puncture, hook, and gouge, the global number of fatalities from wild pig attacks is rising by the decade.

Between 2014 and 2023, the average yearly number of fatal shark attacks worldwide was 5.8, while the average number of fatal wild pig attacks was 19.7. In 2024 alone, there have already been seven deaths from wild pig incidents.

According to groundbreaking research published in 2023, the number of humans killed by wild pig attacks steadily climbed from 2000 to 2019, for a total of 172 deaths—including a freakishly grisly fatality in southeast Texas.

“Most of the public doesn’t know the facts about wild pig attacks on humans,” says John J. Mayer, lead author of the study and wild pig research pioneer. “It’s not sharks, wolves, or bears that kill the most people—it’s wild pigs, and the numbers are consistently trending up.”

1,532 Attacks and 172 Deaths

In 1973, well before the global pig bomb exploded, Mayer began noting wild pigs’ capacity for habitat destruction. At a steady drip, he also heard anecdotes of pig attacks on humans. Although many of the stories initially could not be verified, by the 1990s Mayer accumulated a folder bulging with confirmed encounters, and in 2013, he published research detailing wild pig attacks.

(Farm Journal)

The public reaction to his findings surprised Mayer: “I got a significant number of negative responses from people who refused to believe wild pigs were dangerous. I had people telling me the stories of attacks on humans were pure nonsense. Interestingly, if you asked those same people about sharks, they would, to a person, say that sharks are dangerous.”

A decade later, after collating a global dragnet of sources with colleagues James Garabedian and John Kilgo, both USDA wildlife biologists, Mayer published Human Fatalities Resulting From Wild Pig Attacks Worldwide: 2000–2019 , and the report is packed with eye-opening detail: 1,532 wild pig attacks on humans from 2000-2019, resulting in 172 human deaths in 29 countries.

Of the 172 fatalities, 88% occurred in non-hunting circumstances; 77% of victims died due to blood loss; 86% of attacks occurred in daylight; 84% of victims were male and 62% of victims were adults; 38% of attacks involved farm workers engaged in agriculture; almost all attacks were by solitary pigs, except for 20 encounters featuring multiple pigs; and average pig size in each incident was 240 lb.

(Farm Journal)

“Tigers, Indian elephants, Nile crocodiles, and venomous snakes kill more people than wild pigs, but wild pigs are certainly worse than bears, wolves, and all shark species put together,” says Mayer, technical program manager at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C. “Wild pigs are nowhere near the worst of the worst, but they’re far more dangerous than people believe.”

“These attacks can be horrific,” Mayer adds. “Typically, wild pigs don’t bother anyone if they don’t feel threatened, but they can deliver tremendous damage to the human body in a matter of seconds in a very gruesome manner. We found that in fatal attacks, 55% of people died on the scene. A wild pig is at the waist to knee range for most humans, and when pigs slash in that area, they do tremendous damage to the arterial system.”

Sincerely. Boars deliver stab-and-slash wounds, often around the groin area, with tusks that operate as nails and razors.

7x Predatory

Boar tusks are extremely sharp, with 60-70% of a canine enclosed in the jaw and roughly 1”-4” outside the socket. The upper and lower tusks rub against one another each time a boar opens and closes its mouth, honing the lower tusks into cutters via a perpetual sharpening process.

(Farm Journal)

“Boars punch holes with their tusks, making rough-edged slashes and gouges,” Mayer describes. “They can also break bones with a powerful bite. Sows have smaller tusks, proportionally almost like dogs, so a sow tends to bite, rather than stab or slash. Therefore, most fatal attacks are by males with large canines, and often to the inner leg and femoral artery. On top of that, they can run in short bursts up to 30 to 35 miles per hour.”

Mayer’s benchmark report makes clear that almost all fatal wild pig attacks are associated with defensive behaviors. However, he documented seven attacks “during which the pig’s behaviors appeared to be predatory.”

“If they can get their mouths around something, they’ll eat it. It’s rare, but without question, they sometimes attack unprovoked,” Mayer notes. “We found one case in India where a young girl was walking with her father when a wild pig emerged from brush, grabbed her and picked her up in its jaws, and carried her away. The father gave chase and caught up, but both the father and daughter ended up in the hospital and the little girl died from her wounds.”

“And then there was the 2019 case in Texas where a lady endured the worst,” he adds. “That case is as terrible as it gets.”

As in, maneater. Wild pigs as maneaters.

Feeding Frenzy

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, 2019, arguably ranks as the most savage wild pig attack on record.

As caregiver at the home of an elderly couple living in rural Chambers County, Christine Rollins, 59, arrived to work at roughly 6 a.m., in clockwork fashion. Rollins parked a Chrysler sedan in the yard of the well-kept property, directly beside the driveway, and exited her vehicle. She likely was dead within minutes, partially consumed while alive.

(Farm Journal)

At approximately 7:45 a.m. law enforcement arrived at the property and found Rollins—5’1” and 130 lb.—on her back against the manicured lawn, 6’ from the Chrysler. Rollins’ clothing was torn away. A shirt and jacket were bunched high on her torso; pants and shoes were gone.

Her body, head to toe, was a roadmap of injuries—bites, punctures, and lacerations, including large portions of her legs devoid of flesh. Gone. Eaten.

Arriving on site as an investigation unfolded, nothing in Sheriff Brian Hawthorne’s 35-year southeast Texas career prepared him for the scene.

“I’d never seen anything like it in my life,” he recalls. “Miss Rollins was annihilated. A third of her body was mutilated and in ghastly condition. We could see that she’d been attacked by wild animals and we could see clear signs of hog rooting in the yard. The area around the property was rural and partially wooded, and the elderly owners told us they had major wild hog problems.”

“The owners also had two dogs outside, a 14-year-old Lab and a dachshund, a classic wiener dog. The Lab was extremely friendly toward us and was happy to see the deputies.”

(Farm Journal)

Designated as an “unknown death,” the incident automatically triggered a criminal investigation. Hawthorne reserved judgement, pending an autopsy.

The autopsy was telltale.

“It was tragic. Miss Rollins bled to death,” Hawthorne says. “She had wounds over her whole body, but the lower extremities were horrific. People tried to attribute the attack to dogs, but the evidence was clearly to the contrary. The pathologist found no canine bites on the body. There certainly were bites and tusk marks of all sizes and different widths, but they were made by hogs. Material was sent to labs for DNA testing, and those results confirmed the wild hog attack.”

“It can only be speculation, but we believe she exited her car while the wild pigs were coming around the house,” he continues. “Initially, she was an obstruction, but then became the center of a feeding frenzy by multiple adult hogs and multiple juveniles of various sizes. I’d compare it to the frenzy of domesticated pigs when slop is dumped in a pen, or the frenzy normally associated with sharks at feeding.”

(Farm Journal)

Glaringly, the 2019 wild pig attack in Chambers County accords with Mayer’s research and study. “Every part of me wishes Christine Rollins’ death was attributable to something other than wild hogs, but every bit of evidence says it’s not so,” Hawthorne concludes. “This attack was an exception, but I tell people all the time: Wild hogs are problematic and a danger to be around. Period.”

No More Skeptics

Why do most of the attacks and deaths from wild pigs go unnoticed? Over half (51%) of all fatal pig attacks occur in India, followed by China (8%), with the U.S. well behind at six recorded fatalities in the past 100 years, as noted in Human Fatalities Resulting From Wild Pig Attacks Worldwide: 2000–2019 .

(Farm Journal)

However, the attack rate is trending up everywhere, Mayer says. “In the last 30 years, the global wild pig population has exploded, and we expect encounters to climb alongside, and now the news media is also catching up and the data is more available. In America, for example, I’m certain there were more wild pig fatalities in the past century, but those accounts were never documented. No doubt, there are more lost in family histories.”

In the early 1970s, when Mayer first began giving presentations on wild pig expansion, he was met with puzzled looks and a frequent question: “Why study an animal with no relevance?”

(Farm Journal)

Fifty years later, with the U.S. wild pig population ballooning to 7 million, and annual damage to the agriculture economy at $1.5 billion, according to USDA estimates, no one questions Mayer over the impact of wild pigs.

“You hear about shark attacks all the time in the news, but you almost never hear about wild pig attacks. I hope our study increases awareness about wild pigs and makes people more cautious,” he says. “Wild pig attacks are rare and fatal attacks are rarer, but the rate is still much, much higher than people think—high enough to place wild pigs over sharks in cause of death.”

Sincerely. By the numbers, Hogzilla defeats Jaws.

For more articles from Chris Bennett ( cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:

Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told

American Gothic: Farm Couple Nailed In Massive $9M Crop Insurance Fraud

Priceless Pistol Found After Decades Lost in Farmhouse Attic

Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market

Tractorcade: How an Epic Convoy and Legendary Farmer Army Shook Washington, D.C.

Bizarre Mystery of Mummified Coon Dog Solved After 40 Years

While America Slept, China Stole the Farm

Cybersecurity is More Than Just Resetting Your Password

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 14:09:00 GMT

Cybersecurity refers to every aspect of protecting a company or organization as well as its employees and assets from online threats. For all of us in animal agriculture, cybersecurity is no longer just about avoiding those sketchy phishing emails or resetting our passwords. It’s about being aware of our online presence and how that may make us vulnerable to individuals or groups looking to gain access to sensitive information with the intent to target our farms or companies.

Recently, the Animal Agriculture Alliance has received a few different reports of cybersecurity concerns related to animal rights groups, such as extremists partaking in what the FBI calls “romance fraud” or what you might call “catfishing.” This is when someone uses misleading social media accounts to befriend and seek out information. In the case of animal agriculture, this could be used to gain information from farm or company employees. There are also schemes to collect information off company computers using software installed by clicking an email link. Physical security is not something to forget about either. Extremists entering a facility can try to access readily available unlocked computers to gather sensitive company information, including farm locations or finances.

You may have heard of ransomware attacks, often in the news targeting tech or finance companies, utilizing a form of malware to encrypt company files and shut down their systems. These attackers then demand a “ransom” in exchange for the decryption. This hit the meat community hard in 2021 when a group targeted JBS. This threat to the production of beef, chicken and pork was admired and applauded by animal rights activists.

Recently on a hog farm in Ontario, Canada, we were alerted to a similar incident, however, this time the attackers were not asking for payment. The attackers claimed to have captured incriminating evidence of animal welfare concerns from the farm’s surveillance system. To release their hold from the farm’s cyber network, the attackers were demanding a statement from the farm admitting to animal abuse. It was later revealed that the claims were false, and the farm was able to work with a cybersecurity service to resolve the issue. However, this occurrence was very alarming as this was the first time we had seen a cyber-attack seeking to tarnish a business’ reputation instead of money.

As technology becomes more prevalent both in our personal and professional lives, I encourage everyone to be aware of these tactics and be cautious of any suspicious activity online. The Department of Homeland Security has resources online that we recommend sharing with your friends and colleagues.

Here are three tips to protect your farm.

• Treat business information as personal information.

This includes trade secrets, employee information and financial information. Never share this type of information with unknown parties or using unsecured networks.

• Think before you act.

Be especially cautious about any communications that urge you to take action right away. Phishing emails will use this tactic (making you afraid that your account or information is in danger) to make you act rashly and not take precautions. Reach out to the person or company contacting you using a different, trusted communication method to verify what you received.

• Report suspicious or harassing activity.

Always report any suspicious contact you receive via email, social media or other platforms to the appropriate people at your company so they can monitor for trends and alert others to be cautious. Report any harassment or strange contact on social media to the platform itself and block any users you have concerns about.

Check out the Animal Ag Alliance website for more cybersecurity tips and information, as well as crisis resources.

Read more:

Cybersecurity on the Farm: How Could Your Operation Be At Risk?

Poor Air Quality from Wildfire Smoke can put Livestock, Pets at Risk

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 19:02:11 GMT

Wildfire smoke from Canada returned to the upper Midwest and extended to the Mid-South and Mid-Atlantic this week, resulting in poor air quality in some regions along with reduced visibility.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a report on Wednesday, saying “wildfire smoke from Canada will reduce air quality over parts of the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes, Western Ohio Valley, Central Appalachians, and Mid-Atlantic, prompting Air Quality Warnings over the area.”

Unhealthy levels of pollutants from the smoke spread across states in those regions including most of Michigan and Wisconsin and parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, according to tracker AirNow.gov.

The NWS is encouraging anyone with underlying lung conditions or asthma – especially children and the elderly – to limit their time outdoors in those regions affected by wildfire smoke.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) advises monitoring pets and farm animals that could also be affected by the smoke.

“If you can see or feel the effects of smoke yourself, you also should take precautions to keep your animals – both pets and livestock – safe,” the AVMA encourages on its website.

Animals with cardiovascular or respiratory disease are especially at risk from smoke and should be closely watched during all periods of poor air quality.

Look for the following signs of possible smoke or dust irritation in animals, including:
• Coughing or gagging
• Difficulty breathing, including open mouth breathing and increased noise when breathing
• Eye irritation and excessive watering
• Inflammation of throat or mouth
• Nasal discharge
• Asthma-like symptoms
• Increased breathing rate
• Fatigue or weakness
• Disorientation or stumbling
• Reduced appetite and/or thirst

The wildfires range from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador, and 239 were categorized by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) on Tuesday as being “out of control.”

Reuters reports that Canada is wrestling with its worst-ever start to the wildfire season, which has already burned 6.5 million hectares (16 million acres), an area a little bigger than West Virginia.

One Family's Tragedy Sparks Nationwide Farm Safety Project

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 14:36:09 GMT

What started off as a normal day on the farm for 13-year-old Kaden Wall on Nov. 3, 2020, ended in tragedy when Kaden’s life was taken too soon as a result of a freak farm accident.

“He was simply helping on the farm – doing a task that thousands of other kids just like him do virtually every day – helping his grandfather on the farm. With multiple generations helping at the farm at the same time, what should have been a moment of pure joy turned into complete devastation in a matter of seconds,” shares Kaden’s uncle, Patrick.

In the days following Kaden’s passing, Patrick, an area beef field specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, was doing some online research and discovered the startling statistic that a child dies in an agriculture-related incident about every three days.

“I found a lot of written resources regarding farm safety, but really very little that actively engaged youth to participate or even practice farm safety,” Patrick says. That’s how the Kaden Kares Foundation was formed in an attempt to capture the redeeming qualities of the farm boy whose life was tragically cut short.

(Farm Journal)

Kaden loved showing pigs and farming with his family. Photo provided by Kaden Kares Foundation.

Help Save Lives

The long-term goal of the foundation is to save lives of farm kids, but the mission is to get there by creating active participation from kids. The project focuses on kid-created videos all about on-farm safety. Not only do the kids creating the videos learn, but also every kid that watches the videos online learns, too, Patrick adds.

“Many young people who are old enough to operate farm equipment also have a smart phone and access to social media in some fashion, so why not marry the two together to increase good farm safety practices?” Patrick asks.

To get involved in the Kaden Kares Farm Safety Initiative, start by engaging a team through your local 4-H Club, FFA Chapter or youth group, he says. Then, come up with a farm safety topic and generate a video that demonstrates good farm safety. Post the video on YouTube and enter the contest via the kadenkares.com website .

“The team competition part is basically the embodiment of my nephew,” Patrick says. “Kaden was always asking for pick-up basketball in the driveway with his uncles, family kickball in the front yard, board games, etc. No matter what, he always kept score and was determined to win. Of course, I also loved seeing that competitive spirit translate into the ‘eye of the tiger’ look during swine showmanship.”

The online video challenge will occur in the fall, though videos may be submitted all year long. Entries for each year’s competition will be cut off on November 30. Winners will be announced in January. Groups may enter more than once. Topics can range from livestock safety to ATV/UTV safety and anything in between.

“Take it seriously but have fun with it!” Patrick says. “Farm safety should be so much more than yelling at your kids to get away from the PTO shaft. We all know that agriculture is a dangerous profession, but most of us wouldn’t change the career path we chose. In the end, I want farmers to brag about their safety videos they did with their grandkids as much as they brag about their corn yields or weaning weights.”

(Farm Journal)

Photo provided by the Kaden Kares Foundation.

The Farming “Bug”

Kaden was the oldest boy in his family and grew up watching his dad, granddad, cousins and great uncle farm.

“He was so eager to join them,” Patrick says. “Some of us get ‘the bug’ to farm; it’s hard to explain to those outside agriculture…but Kaden certainly had it.”

The more dollars that can be gathered through the Kaden Kares Foundation, the more dollars they will give away through the Kaden Kares Farm Safety Initiative, Patrick says. And ultimately, he hopes it results in more lives being saved.

“We hope people can learn from Kaden’s passing how quickly things can go wrong,” Patrick says, “and in turn, how important it is to actively practice farm safety with those involved in your operation.”

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Why One Pig Farmer Says It’s Time to Change Your Mindset

FFA Has-Been? No, Your Role Just Changes

Prepare and Prevent: It’s Going to Take Us All

Here’s Why You Need to Find Time for A Nap During the Busy Season

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 19:13:34 GMT

How much sleep do you get each night during the busy season? Researchers out of University of Nebraska—Lincoln (UNL) found that planting, harvest and calving season shave off 28 minutes of farmer’s sleep each night.

While 28 minutes doesn’t seem like much when you consider your ever-growing to-do list, Susan Harris, UNL extension educator, and Amanda Prokasky, assistant professor of education and child development at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, found this sleep deficit is a recipe for disaster.

“Half an hour less sleep in one night is no big deal,” says Prokasky. “But when you start subtracting 30 minutes of sleep every night for four to six weeks during a busy season, that sleep deficit can become pretty significant.”

Proof in the Pudding

To complete the study, 40 ag workers wore an Actigraph Spectrum Plus—a wrist monitor that continuously records data on motion and activity—for one week during a busy season and one week during a slower, “more routine” week, according to Harris.

Their findings not only show farmers spent 28 fewer minutes sleeping, but they also spent 25 less minutes in bed.

According to another farmer sleep study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, farmers who sleep fewer than 7.5 hours per night increase their risk of injury by 61%.

NIH also found that decreased sleep results in decreased stability, making it 7.4 times more likely that you’ll have poor, inconsistent balance.

Minor Adjustments Could Make a Difference

To avoid on-farm incidents, Harris and Prokasky suggest producers:
1. Take a brief break—even if it’s 15 minutes.
2. Consider a nap—research shows a 20-to-30-minute nap will improve mood, sharpen focus and reduce fatigue without leaving you feeling groggy.
3. Adjust your schedule

The UNL researchers intend to create educational interventions on the importance of sleep during agriculture’s busiest seasons.

“We learned a lot of interesting things and learned what to do differently moving forward,” Prokasky said. “Now it’s about finding additional collaborators to take this to the next step.”

More on farm safety:
Kids on the Farm: Don’t Take Your Eyes Off Safety
One Family’s Tragedy Sparks Nationwide Farm Safety Project

Heartbreak Serves as a Warning to Other Farm Families

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 19:50:47 GMT

In a split second one life ended, and dozens of lives would never be the same. Ralph Griesbaum was practically born operating a tractor, it was like breathing, but hazards are always present in ag operations.

The 58-year-old farmer and rancher was doing a normal chore on the cab-less tractor his dad bought just after he was born. Then, something went wrong and the tractor overturned, landing on the father, husband and grandfather. By the time he was found, and emergency responders arrived, it was already too late.

“It was Father’s Day 2018 when we lost the best man I know,” says Lacey Miller, Griesbaum’s daughter who now farms part of the family operation with her husband and children. “If he had been wearing a seatbelt and had a rollbar we’d be telling a totally different story.”

He left behind his wife, two children and four grandchildren and a community of friends and acquaintances who were shook by the news. Griesbaum was running for presiding commissioner in his county and was well known for involvement in the community.

Make time for safety

Tractor rollovers make up more than half of the 250 tractor-related deaths that occur each year, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Around 85% of rollovers are side rollovers.

Simple additions to tractors can increase operator safety and possibly save lives.

“I made a vow shortly after dad died that there would never be another open tractor on our farm,” Miller says. “There is no dollar amount worth a life.”

Adding a rollbar and seat belt costs anywhere from $1,600 to $1,800, which might seem like a lot of money — especially on older tractors. However, the cost isn’t to protect the tractor, it’s to protect the life of the operator.

Here are a few of the major causes of side rollovers, according to Farm Bureau:

Driving too close to inclines or embankments.
Taking curves too fast.
Driving a loaded front-end loader while raised.
Uneven breaking.
Losing control of the tractor from a heavy load on the drawbar.

Check out tips for avoiding side and rear rollovers here .

“My dad was the best, he was larger than life, I can still hear his laugh,” Miller says. “He was never going to die. He was honest, he was selfless. Never leave your daughter the way he left me. Think about your family and the domino effect your death could have.”

Safety on the farm moves beyond just the tractor, if you’re working with animals or in uneven fields, hazards are all around you. Don’t let the need for speed cloud your judgement, accidents happen in seconds, but their impact reverberates throughout families and communities for years.

Injured North Dakota Rancher Overwhelmed by Support

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:38:06 GMT

It’s a daily duty many ranchers take for granted — and sometimes even complain about.

Matt Fischer would gladly be out in the tractor, versus watching from the sidelines.

“November 10, I thought I would maintain the stack mover and oil the chains and get it ready for winter,” he told KX News .

“I was oiling the chains and one of the couplers caught my coat, pulled me in and flipped me over. Before I knew it I had no chance to get away. It had amputated my arm, and then I still had my leg, but it had chewed it up pretty bad. I was able to crawl out from underneath there are jump in the pickup and get back to mom’s and call for help.”

Now half of Matt’s cattle live here at his in-laws, while the other half are spending the winter at a neighbor’s house.

“Once it all happened, it was a lot of phone calls taking place and a lot of friends and neighbors helping out. Just wanting to help,” said Kim Saueressig, Fischer’s brother-in-law.

Fischer said the community support has been overwhelming.

“I don’t have any words. I know the cows are in good hands and I don’t have to worry about it. It helps me get better and helps me heal when I don’t have to worry about it,” he said.

People from Mercer, Turtle Lake and McClusky, N.D. have helped, Saueressig said.

“It’s not just one community, it’s three now. The outpouring of support is fantastic, it’s been the amount of thanks we can’t even say enough about — combining corn and taking care of the cattle and just the help that Matthew and Becky have been able to get has just been outstanding.”

With an upbeat attitude and plenty of determination, Fischer doesn’t plan on watching from the sidelines for long. He’s waiting for the day the doctor gives the OK to be back in the tractor and out with the cattle.

“With the help of neighbors and family, I think we will be able to do that. That’s our goal. To keep farming and to keep the cattle,” he said.

Source: Associated Press

Missouri Cattleman's Foundation Hosts Farm Safety School

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:34:08 GMT

The Missouri Cattlemen’s Foundation hosted the 9th Annual Farm Safety College at the University Beef Research and Teaching Farm in Columbia, Mo. Seven Missouri schools brought 236 students together to learn how to practice proper safety procedures on the farm.

With the agriculture industry being the fourth most dangerous profession, Missouri Cattlemen’s Foundation Director Katie Steen believes Farm Safety College is a great outdoor classroom for students to understand the importance of safety on the farm and by holding this event, Steen hopes to see a decrease in farm related accidents.

Students had the opportunity to learn from five stations: ATV, Large machinery, Beef handling, Sun Safety and Gun Safety. Lunch was provided and cooked by the Boone County Cattlemen’s Association.

See all ‘ A Day in Agriculture ’ coverage.

Cattle Healthline

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:32:52 GMT

The immune system is crucial in mitigating stress-associated disease risk in calves. Stressed calves have a weaker immune system and a lower response rate to vaccines, making treatment difficult.

Early vaccination allows immunity to be established prior to the challenges that occur during weaning. The opportunity to prime the immune system through vaccination at a young age by generating a mucosal immune response helps set up the animal for a more effective cell-mediated immune response and, subsequently, more robust long-term immunity.

Vaccinations play a pivotal part in establishing and building immunity in calves and serve as an important preconditioning insurance plan. How soon after birth can a calf be effectively immunized?

Until recently, there was widespread uncertainty regarding the timing of calf vaccination. This was due to long-held beliefs that the newborn calf’s immune system is not sufficiently developed to respond appropriately to vaccination and that maternal antibodies would adversely impact the effectiveness of any vaccine. But new research shows that calves respond to vaccination even before birth.

We now understand that calves have a fully functional immune system at 150 to 170 days of gestation. This fact has led to significant improvements in the approach we take to vaccinating young calves and trying to increase immune function.

Recent developments in vaccine administration, like intranasal vaccination, offer better ways to more quickly address respiratory disease in high-stress animals while priming the immune system.

Alternative routes. Intranasal administration means the vaccine antigens are delivered directly to mucosal surfaces in the nose—the major sites of immune response in cattle—which stimulates a faster response. Intranasal immunization can provide system-wide immunologic memory to future infection, hence priming the immune system.

Because intranasal vaccine antigens are delivered directly to the nasal mucosa, where maternal interference is less likely, most young animals respond to vaccination and develop active immunity. In addition, intranasal vaccine administration may help close the window of susceptibility when maternal antibodies’ waning powers still repel vaccines but leave animals vulnerable to diseases. (See figure at left.)

A more thorough understanding of the bovine immune system has led to several distinct advantages in controlling and preventing infectious disease, as well as more effective vaccines. High-risk cattle, such as weaned calves and newborns, can now build their immune memory, thus priming the system for long-term health.

Talk with your veterinarian to determine if intranasal vaccination is right for your operation.

SCOTT NORDSTROM, DVM, is manager of veterinary technical services at Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health. For more information, e-mail Scott.Nordstrom@sp.intervet.com.

Celebrate With Beef on Memorial Day, National Burger & Brisket Days

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:25:35 GMT

Memorial Day festivities are the official start to summer, and a major time for beef consumption. May is National Beef Month and National Barbecue Month—all fabulous reasons to promote the beef industry.

But don’t forget May 28th, national days of celebration for hamburgers and brisket! Here’s a fun round up to celebrate these two cuts of beef:

MUST READ: Beef Drove 2018 Meat Department Sales. Beef sales are up 6.0% nationwide! @Beef https://t.co/jJuk44kxRQ pic.twitter.com/7LkamihLco
— Beef Checkoff (@BeefCheckoff) April 29, 2019

Burger of the Day: 🔥Our Smokehouse Burger has twin chuck patties, smoked beef brisket, cheddar cheese, crispy onion ring and bourbon BBQ sauce.#NationalBurgerMonth #brisket #burgers #BBQ #cheddar #onionrings #smokehouse #bourbon #burgerbar #mouthwatering #foodphotography #eats pic.twitter.com/xlhwsYnFUv
— Plan B Burger Bar (@PlanBBurgerBar) May 23, 2019

Happy #NationalBBQMonth! This month we’re sharing our tips for getting the most out of your home grilling! Get our full list of #brisket tips here: https://t.co/BYxaElX7Q7 pic.twitter.com/xAlJUp7spp
— Smokey Mo's BBQ (@SmokeyMosBBQSA) May 23, 2019

Burgers and brisket are a favorite for the barbecue grill, but also in a variety of other recipes.

Families looking to take their burger game to the next level and satisfy beef burger cravings this summer can find all the inspiration they need from the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. Tastiest Burgers Collection . Try the Thai Burger or the Garlic-Herb Cheeseburger for something new ! See other burger tips here .

While briskets shine in barbecue during the summer, in the fall and winter, briskets bring a depth of flavor in other ways. Want to take a break from BBQ and try a traditional brisket recipe this weekend? This beef brisket is as flavorful as can be. Carrots and dried plums make for the perfect autumn accompaniment to this roast. See this recipe from the American Heart Association and the Beef Checkoff .

If you are up for a challenge, we’d like to see some American challengers to the Guinness world record for the largest hamburger!

The current record holder is Wolfgang Leeb, Tom Reicheneder, Rudi Dietl, Josef Zellner, Hans Maurer and Christian Dischinger, in Pilsting, Germany on July 9, 2017. Their hamburger weighed 2,566 lb. 9 oz., and consisted of three meat patties, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, onions, hamburger sauce and a bun.

Safety should always be priority No. 1 at any food gathering—from grilling safety to food safety.

Click here for more food safety tips from USDA to keep your picnic full of summer fun.

Celebrate With Beef on Memorial Day, National Burger & Brisket Days

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:22:25 GMT

MUST READ: Beef Drove 2018 Meat Department Sales. Beef sales are up 6.0% nationwide! @Beef https://t.co/jJuk44kxRQ pic.twitter.com/7LkamihLco
— Beef Checkoff (@BeefCheckoff) April 29, 2019

Burger of the Day: 🔥Our Smokehouse Burger has twin chuck patties, smoked beef brisket, cheddar cheese, crispy onion ring and bourbon BBQ sauce.#NationalBurgerMonth #brisket #burgers #BBQ #cheddar #onionrings #smokehouse #bourbon #burgerbar #mouthwatering #foodphotography #eats pic.twitter.com/xlhwsYnFUv
— Plan B Burger Bar (@PlanBBurgerBar) May 23, 2019

Happy #NationalBBQMonth! This month we’re sharing our tips for getting the most out of your home grilling! Get our full list of #brisket tips here: https://t.co/BYxaElX7Q7 pic.twitter.com/xAlJUp7spp
— Smokey Mo's BBQ (@SmokeyMosBBQSA) May 23, 2019

Safety should always be priority No. 1 at any food gathering—from grilling safety to food safety.

Click here for more food safety tips from USDA to keep your picnic full of summer fun.

East Idaho Man Dies in Farm Equipment Accident

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:20:02 GMT

A Rexburg, Idaho father has died after he became entangled in the rotor of farm equipment.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s office says 36-year-old C.J. Frizzell died Friday while trying to remove blockage from a grinding tub feeder used to grind hay to feed cattle.

The Jefferson County Coroner pronounced Frizzell dead at the scene near the agricultural community of Terreton, which is about 35 miles from Idaho Falls.

The Standard Journal says Frizzell leaves behind a wife and several young children. Another child is expected in April.

Cargill’s Friona Beef Plant Marks 6 million Worker Hours without a Lost Time Injury

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:04:49 GMT

It was June 2013 when the last lost time injury occurred at Cargill’s large beef processing plant here, which employs 2,000-plus people and produces nearly 900,000 tons of beef annually. Established in 1898 by a Kansas City land development company, Friona was little more than a stop on the fledgling Pecos Valley & Northern Texas Railway predecessor of Santa Fe Railway, now BNSF.

Entering the 20th century, it was obvious that beef would become important to this Texas Panhandle town. By 1968, beef’s importance to the region led to construction of the current plant, which harvests approximately 4,500 head of cattle daily.

With more than 900,000 square feet under roof, and myriad activities required to harvest and process beef and its by-products, employee safety is critical and lost-time injury potential is ever-present. Yet, through a concerted effort by all employees to embrace Friona’s “safety culture,” no lost time injury has occurred at the Friona plant for nearly a year-and-a-half, a remarkable achievement by any measure.

“We expect everyone who works at this plant to return home to their families in the same condition as when they left for work that day,” explained Matt Leu, the plant’s general manager. “Creating and maintaining a ‘safety culture’ requires that each person who works here to look for opportunities to continuously improve safety and work to minimize the potential for lost time injuries. That requires focus in an environment where there’s a lot of machinery with moving parts, heavy beef carcasses moving through the facility and many activities requiring precise motion by people using knives, saws, hooks and other equipment required to do their job. We care about each other, and are vigilant to ensure people do not get hurt.”

Friona is one of four Cargill U.S. fed beef cattle processing plants in the U.S., the others located in Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. Beef from Friona is shipped throughout the U.S. and around the world. Friona’s importance to Cargill is underscored by $4 million in capital investment at the facility in 2014, in addition to significant upgrades to the plant’s fresh water storage and wastewater treatment system.

“To meet the needs of our customers and consumers who purchase beef from them, we understand that we must be competitive regarding our products and service, and to do that we need to have an engaged team working at the plant,” stated Leu. “Our team is extremely focused and engaged in all aspects associated with the success of this facility, and safety is a major piece in that puzzle. The work performed here can be demanding, yet the pride with which everyone approaches their role is inspiring, and has helped get us to a high level of safety awareness. We’re at a good place, but won’t rest on our accomplishments. While we are very proud of the safety achievements we have earned, we understand that our safety journey continues. As part of that journey, we are excited to set our sights on the horizon, so we may implement programs that will yield even greater future results for the Friona team.”

Source: Cargill

Machinery Minute: Quiet Cattle Chute

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 01:52:17 GMT

The Silencer hydraulic chute is built on the idea that less noise leads to calmer cattle and less chance of injury.