FarmSafe Podcast

In this episode, we tackle the topic of succession planning for family farms. Our guest, Joy Kirkpatrick, a seasoned professional in farm management and succession planning, shares expert advice on how to navigate the often complex process of transferring farm ownership and leadership to the next generation. We discuss strategies for building the skills of successors, planning what is next for the...

Dr. Barbara Lee and Melissa Ploeckelman are joining us again for this episode, The Farm-Kid Paradox, focusing on how to keep children and youth safe while working and living on the farm. The episode covers best practices for educating young farm workers, fostering a culture of safety, and providing age-appropriate tasks to prevent farm incidents. Episode Resources Agricultural Youth Work Guideline...

We kick off the new Season 4 of the FarmSafe Podcast. Our Season 3 host, Libby Ritchie, returns to chat with Center Director Renee Anthony to talk about the new format for Season 4. In this September 2024 episode drop, we are highlighting episodes that correspond to social media promotion for the National Farm Safety & Health Week. The list of past episodes we are mapping to topics this year a...

In our last episode of this season, we spoke with Scott Heiberger, Communications Manager of the National Farm Medicine Center. He wrote about his and his wife's experience with Lyme disease in his 2019 Spotlight for the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH): "Tick-borne diseases on the rise, but often misdiagnosed, underreported." Episode Resources Lyme Diseas...

Mandy Roome, PhD, is a researcher at the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety. Her current project is on tick-borne diseases on Vermont farms. She shares about the tick-borne diseases common to each region and how farmers can protect themselves, since avoiding outdoor work is not likely for a farmer. Episode Resources CDC, Check what the common ticks are in your state at https://www...

Electricity is one of the “silent killers” in agriculture. There are many ways to come in contact with it, and without an understanding of common electrical hazards, farmers can get hurt. Libby speaks with Ann Augspurger from Safe Electricity on these hazards. We also hear from Cody and Bailey Conrady. They share the story of Cody’s electrocution and the surgeries and loss of limbs that followed....

Did you know May is National Mental Health Awareness Month? We have a few voices on today's episode to discuss farmers' mental health. First, you'll hear from Kentucky farmer Quint Pottinger, owner of Affinity Farms. Then, Emily Krekelberg, Minnesota extension educator and dairy farmer, followed by Tammy Jacobs, Iowa State University Extension outreach and coordinator for the Iowa C...

Zach Johnson is the Minnesota Millennial Farmer. His YouTube account has over 1 million dedicated subscribers, and he is passionate about ag education — as are we! He has used his channel to promote organizations like Farm Rescue and Nationwide, who hosts Grain Bin Safety Week. He has shared videos on grain entrapment and rescue that lead to more shared stories in the comments below. Episode Resou...

In this episode, we will explore the topic of emergency preparedness and response in the rural environment. Brian Feist, BSN, RN, and Emergency Preparedness Clinical Subject Matter Expert, and Dr. Richard Sidwell, trauma surgeon at Iowa Methodist, dive into community building and how it relates to preparedness and response efforts for rural emergencies. “One advantage that the small communities ha...

This episode focuses on emergency preparedness on the farm. We talked with extension educator and dairy farmer, Emily Krekelberg, about general tips that can help farmers plan for emergency situations. During the episode, we share information on the key pieces of information for your emergency action plan, including weather-related events, entrapments, or medical emergencies. Episode Resources Eme...

It is National Poison Prevention Week 2024. This year’s theme is “When the unexpected happens, Poison Help is here for you 24/7”. Tammy Noble from the Iowa Poison Control Center is back this week to answer more of our poison questions. Head to @GPCAH on Facebook or X/Twitter to like, comment, and share our #NPPW24 posts the rest of this week! Episode Resources: Recommendations: Carbon Monoxide Poi...

This episode is airing two weeks before National Poison Prevention Week (March 17-23rd). This is the first episode in a two-part conversation on poisoning exposure prevention, which is today’s episode, and poisoning exposure response on the 20th. Tammy Noble from the Iowa Poison Control Center will be guiding us through this topic.  Episode Resources Needle Stick Prevention on the Farm, UMASH: htt...

We are wrapping up our Gran Bin Safety series during February’s Grain Bin Safety Week. Join us today as we chat with Rich Gassman and Kristina TeBockhorst in the final part to our grain bin safety series. Today’s topic is grain handling equipment safety. Episode Resources Grain Safety Shorts: Grain Handling Equipment Safety, Kristina TeBockhorst: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/smallfarms/grain-...

Grain must be managed all year round. The three Cs of grain management are Cooling, Coring and Cleaning and Checking. These must be implemented to ensure that your grain does not spoil. Kristina TeBockhorst returns to give us more details on this topic. Episode Resources Core Each Grain Bin This Fall, Kristina TeBockhorst: https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/blog/kristina-tebockhorst-shawn-shouse/...

In this episode of FarmSafe, we hear from Anita Howard. She lost her 18-year-old son in a tragic grain bin incident in 2019. Anita maintains that it was 100% preventable if he had known what precautions to take. Our experts in this episode are Kristina TeBockhorst and Rich Gassman. Kristina will be our guide through this grain bin series. Rich will appear again too! Episode Resources Safety Precau...

This is our first episode in a series on grain bins leading up to grain bin safety week. We hear a farmer story from Norm Deets on an extremely close call on the farm, resulting from grain entrapment. Our expert, Emily Krekelberg, starts off this series by discussing precautions and proper equipment (PPE) needed before entering a bin. Episode Resources GPCAH Grain Engulfment and Entrapment Grain S...

For this year’s holiday special, we talked to farmers and individuals working in the ag safety and health field about their 2024 resolutions. We asked our farming community to share one thing that they commit to doing in the new year to stay safe and healthy on farms and in other rural areas. Episode Resources To look for specific tools to address hazards on the farm, visit our resources page If y...

Tractors are costly, and preventing costly repairs can be as simple as taking the time to do a pre-operational check on your tractor. Emily Krekelberg is our expert today.

Half of all deaths from farming per year are from tractor rollovers. About half of all U.S. tractors are not fitted with Rollover Protective Structures or ROPS although ROPS have been proven to be effective at saving lives. Check out our resources to find ROPS rebate funding in your state. Our tractor safety expert for this series is Emily Krekelberg from UMN Extension. We also hear an interview b...

Welcome back to the third season of the FarmSafe podcast. To kick off this season, our Season 3 host, Libby Presnall, chats with center director Renée Anthony. They talk about upcoming projects at the Great Plains Center and what to expect from Season 3.

In our final episode of season 2, we sit down with Tom Peters and ask him to talk about what he found out about differences in pesticide aerosols and drift when using new aerial drone technology versus the traditional land-application methods of the tractor operated boom sprayer. 

Make some noise for Dr. Tom Peters! You guessed it -- today's episode is on hearing protection. We also speak with Marsha Cheyney as well who works for the Great Plains Center. 

Glyphosate, or better known as Roundup, is a controversial weed killer. Is it safe? Let's hear from Kaci Buhl, the Co-Chair of the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative, on the current state of knowledge about glyphosate.

Kaci Buhl is on the FarmSafe Podcast to talk about an amazing resource -- PERC. PERC is the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative, and they have the know how about pesticide use. PERC's resources are even available for co-branding with your own region-specific information and your organization's logo.

Dr. Michelle Reyes, Sr. Research Associate at the University of Iowa's Driving Safety Research Institute, and Dr. Cara Hamann, Associate Professor at the University of Iowa, and core director of the Injury Prevention Research Center are on the podcast to talk about the SaferTrek project. This project observes the behavior of passing vehicles and how they interact with farm vehicles on the roa...