UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Grain fanners and their
families may face deadly hazards
this spring and summer when
working with grain bins, said a
farm safety expen in Penn State’s
College of Agricultural Sciences.
“According to the National
Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health, at least nine farmers
recently have suffocated to death
after being buried alive in stored
grain.” said Dr. Dennis Murphy,
professor of agricultural
engineering.
The risk of suffocation may be
higher this year than usual. “Last
year’s wet fall and large crop
forced farmers to store grain wet
and for a longer time,” Murphy
said. “Moisture can cause the
grain to cake or crust at the sur
face, a process frequently called
‘bridging.’"
Bridged grain is extremely
hazardous because it prevents
grain flow and hides underlying
pockets in the grain. Farmers
walking on or trying to break up
the bridged material have fallen
through the surface and become
engulfed in grain.
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When Universal's engineei
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AGWAT SERVICE
CENTER
E. College Ave.
Pleasant Gap, PA
1-800*533*3866
QUARRYVILLE AGWAT
DAIRY SERVICE
27 East Fourth St.
Quarryville, PA
717-786-2126
(agway)
Grain Suffocation Risk Higher This Year
Farm workers also can be bun
ied while stored grain is being
emptied from the bottom of the
bin. Typical unloading rates will
bury a person in less than a
minute.
“Like quicksand, flowing grain
can pull you completely into the
bin," Murphy said. “The force
created by the unloading grain is
so great that once you’re waist
deep in the grain, you’re unlikely
to be able to escape, even with a
safety rope.”
Spoiled grain increases suffoca
tion risks. “Spoiled grain emits
carbon dioxide, which displaces
oxygen in the bin. Even if a work
er isn’t completely buried, he or
she can suffocate from the lack of
oxygen above the grain surface.”
Grain caked along the bin walls
presents another hazard. “When
workers try to break the caked
material loose from below the
level of grain, large sections of
grain may break off, burying them
below,” Murphy said. “Never
enter a storage area from the bot
tom when material is caked to the
sides of the bin or bridged
overhead.”
UNION CITY AGWAT
FARM CENTER
West High St. Extension
Union City, PA
1-800-328-7768
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\e cows may have the last
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Route 866
Curryville, PA
814-793-2167
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Break up crusts from outside
the bin. “Break crusts through the
roof door with a weighted line or a
wooden or plastic pole that can’t
conduct electricity,” Murphy said.
“Don’t use conductive poles,
since they may contact power
lines near the bin.”
If you must enter a bin, stay
above the grain at all times. “Nev
er stand on stored material,” Mur
phy said. “Assume that all steed
materials are bridged and
unstable.”
Before entering the bin, stop the
Pa.’s Winter Wheat
LEESPORT (Berks Co.)
With winter wheat harvest begin
ning soon, Pennsylvania fanners
expect to produce a 8.25 million
bushel crop for 1993. The winter
wheat crop is down from 1992’s
10.17 million-bushel crop, ac
cording to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s June crop produc
tion report
USDA officials indicated the
AGWAT DAIRY
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409 B. Grant St.
Cbambareburg, PA
1-800-356-4572
XT
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Bettor araya to dairy bettor.
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grain flow. “Never load or unload
the bin while a worker is inside,”
Murphy said. “All equipment used
to fill or empty a bin should be
turned off and locked out to pre
vent other workers from starting it
accidentally.”
Also turn on ventilating equip
ment. “The bin should be thor
oughly ventilated with unhealed
air before and while a worker is in
the bin.”
Wear a safety belt or harness
equipped with a properly fastened
life line that will keep you above
the stored material if you fall. “A
at 8.25 Million Bushels
national average farm price for
wheat may range from $42.55 to
$2.75 per bushel.
Winter wheat producers in the
State expect to harvest. 165,000
acres this year, compared to
185,000 acres last year. Crop
yields are expected to average SO
bushels per acres in 1993, compar
ed to 55 in 1992.
Richard Trouman, chairman of
TM 1
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 10, 1993^09
similarly equipped standby person
should remain outside the bin,”
Murphy said, “Safety equipment
won’t protect you in the event you
fall below the level of stored
material.”
Some storage bins can be modi
fied with equipment that mechani
cally breaks up bridges and
clumps. “Commercially available
equipment can assist in breaking
crusted grain surfaces from out
side the bin, but the safety of these
devices remains untested,” Mur
phy said.
Crop
the Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Service (ASCS),
said crop conditions in the county
have been good so far. About
1,025 acres of wheat are enrolled
in the county’s 1993 farm pro
gram.
Nationally, winter wheat pro
ducers are expected to harvest
44.3 million acres to produce an
estimated 1.82 billion-bushel win
ter wheat crop in 1993 14 per
cent more than in 1992. Crop
yields for winter wheat could
average 41.2 bushels per acres in
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PLEASE CALL COLLECT OR WRITE
FOR MORE INFORMATION
MID ATLANTIC SURGICAL
SERVICES
217 Harrisburg Ave., Suite 201
Lancaster, PA 17603
(717) 295-5454
MOST INSURANCE ACCEPTED
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