Extension preaches grain bin safety to students [St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.]

Sept. 30--ALBANY, Mo. -- It can take only a few seconds for a seemingly tranquil mound of grain stored in a large metal building to engulf and quickly imperil someone near death.

Nearly 300 Future Farmers of America members from 13 Northwest Missouri high schools learned about the extreme hazards of working in and around grain bins on Thursday. The occasion was an annual FFA Field Day at the University of Missouri Hundley-Whaley Research Center in Albany, Mo.

Bob Kelly of Buchanan County University Extension challenged the students to work with county agribusiness leaders, Farm Bureau officials, insurance firms and rural firefighters to raise donations for three-piece aluminum grain rescue tubes. He referred to a recent effort by the Doniphan County Farm Bureau that led to a purchase of the rescue gear for fire personnel.

"There's very few rural fire districts that have them," he said. "I think we can get the same deal."

Mr. Kelly told the students about five recent grain-bin accidents in Illinois, in which only one of the youths involved was successfully rescued, thanks to a tube. The tube, when slid around the engulfed individual, stops the downward flow and then allows the material to be vacuumed away.

"It doesn't take long to get caught," he told small student groups that filed toward a learning station, set against a backdrop of huge metal grain bins. "Once you get knee deep, you can't move. You don't have time to react. It's like one great big bear hug. It can drown you. It can do it in pretty short order."

Grain becomes dangerous because it has physical properties that make it act like water and quicksand. "It acts kind of like a sandpile," Mr. Kelly said. "Once you get (grain) over your knees, you're in for the ride."

He urged the students to cup their hands around their mouth and nose to create an air pocket if caught in shifting grain. The material otherwise will fill the lungs as if it were water. The best advice is to pant rather than breathe regularly.

"When you try to inhale, you're expanding your lungs," he added. "When you pant like a dog, your lungs stay in static condition."

Such cases show that death from suffocation can occur in just a few minutes, with complete submersion happening in just a half-minute.

One safety feature used by many grain bin companies involves hanging a rope from a ring that can be grasped in emergencies. Instead, Mr. Kelly prefers safety harnesses, tying off a rope to the gear so the victim does not fall deeper into the mass of grain.

The buddy system is also advisable, with one person doing the work and the other acting as monitor.

The students also reviewed such topics as computers on the farm, agritourism, conservation tips, and distracted driving.

More than 300 regional students attended a similar FFA Field Day on Friday at MU Extension's Graves-Chapple Research Center in Atchison County.

Ray Scherer can be reached at ray.scherer@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @SJNPScherer.

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