October South Dakota Farm and Ranch by Mitchell Republic

SOYBEAN AND CORN HARVEST RACES AGAINST

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South Dakota Farm & Ranch is an agricultural publication dedicated to informing SD and Midwest area farmers & ranchers about current topics and news.

this publication fits the niche of our unique farmers and ranchers of the Midwest, and the diverseness we have in our area. Although the Missouri River divides our state, we are all South Dakotans and thank the land for supporting us each and every day.

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South Dakota's soybean and corn harvest races against dry, hot conditions

BY ARIANA SCHUMACHER Agweek

WENTWORTH, S.D. — Soybean harvest has been moving fast and furious in eastern South Dakota as many days have been windy and temperatures have been reaching the 80s and 90s.

According to the National Weather Service, this September was one of the top five driest Septembers in South Dakota, with Sioux Falls experiencing its driest September on record with a 0.04 inch rainfall total.

“We are experiencing some very dry days, very hot days,” said Dave Ellens, president of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association. “We’re just not used to 80, 90 degrees during harvest and it’s really drying down these beans really fast.”

Ellens, who farms in Wentworth, South Dakota, north of Sioux Falls, said he spent only around a week getting his bean crop out of the field, which is unusually quick for his operation.

“Usually during bean harvest you might get a rain delay. You might get beans that maybe some are ready and some aren’t. But this year everything was ready to go all at the same time,” he said.

“They went from green stems and green leaves to 8% or 9% so fast because of the heat and wind and dryness,” Ellens explained.

Ellens estimates that they saw about a 5% yield lost because of how dried down the soybeans are.

“You are looking at three to five bushels, I think, that we lost in just water weight because we weren’t able to combine the beans at the moisture we wanted to,” he said.

But, overall, the soybean yields have still been pretty good. Ellens has been seeing yields in the high 50s and low 60s in this year’s crop in terms of bushels per acre.

Dave Ellens has been rushed to get the soybeans out of the field this year.

there’s also low lows. So, averaging out we’re seeing kind of around high 50s.”

Weeds were hard to control this year.

“When you get in the low spots, it’s not much for beans, but there is a lot of weeds,” Ellens said. “It’s just a matter of managing those low spots and keeping those weeds under control. It was kind of a hard task this year.”

Ellen’s last day of bean harvest was Sept. 30. Now, he is headed right into corn harvest, which he planned to start on Oct. 2.

Having all the beans dry down this quickly isn’t a good thing. Ellens usually wants to see his soybeans at a 12% or 13% moisture content at harvest, but since they dried so fast, he didn’t even have a chance to harvest them at the correct moisture.

“But there is a lot of variability. Because of the heavy rains we had in the spring, there is a lot of drowned out,” he explained. “You might get some really high highs, but then

“One of the things with this heat and dryness, this corn is turning fast and what happens is the stalks really start to degrade,” he said. “We want to get out there before the stalks start to degrade and start falling over.”

Starting corn in the first few days of October is earlier than usual. While he usually likes to harvest corn at 18% to 20% moisture,

Ariana Schumacher / Agweek

“We’re just not used to 80, 90 degrees during harvest and it’s really drying down these beans really fast.”

Dave Ellens spent only around a week getting all of his soybean acres harvested, which is abnormally fast for

Ellens said this year it’s already looking to be drier than that.

“I’ve heard, too, corn is drying down fast, too, so I think we are going to get into some maybe 15%, 16%, 17% corn that we might be able to just throw in the bin,” he said. “It’ll be interesting to see what that is out there.”

The dryness of the corn could cause some issues.

“When you get down to that 15% to 16%, you do get a lot more head loss and shatter at the head,” Ellens explained. “I mean, 18% is where we like to combine our corn at just because you don’t have as much head loss at that moisture.”

Ellens has heard that there may be better yield results on corn because the corn was a little further along when the heavy rains hit.

“So instead of zeros or, you know, nothing in that low ground that we saw on soybeans, on corn, I think we are going to see a little bit better yields in that low ground just because the corn was farther along and able to handle that rain when it came,” he said.

The hot and dry conditions are making farmers prepare for a rushed corn harvest season as well.

“I think it’s going to be a mad rush to get that corn out,” Ellens said on Sept. 30. “On days like to today, when the wind is blowing so hard, there’s not much left in those stalks. So guys are going to want to go after and get it picked, because it’s easier to pick it when it’s standing up than laying on the ground.”

Ellens dumps a load of soybeans on the grain cart on Sept. 30, the last day of his soybean harvest.

Ariana Schumacher / Agweek

his operation.

Ariana Schumacher / Agweek

Swine Club hosts first pig show

BY KENNEDY TESCH Agweek

BROOKINGS, S.D. — Many students involved in South Dakota State University’s Swine Club have a passion for showing pigs and other animals, but students learned what goes in to putting on a show by hosting their first annual Jacks Classic on Sept. 21 at the Dacotah Bank Center in Brookings, South Dakota.

Sami Nordman, 4-H livestock program manager for SDSU Extension, helps advise the club and said the idea for the show was similar to what another SDSU club, Block and Bridle, puts on for a cattle show with their Jackrabbit Memorial Jackpot Show held in March.

“The swine club thought it would be a cool idea to start a swine version of that (Jackrabbit Memorial Jackpot Show),” Nordmann said. “So, that's kind of what we did and having those kids that are involved in the show industry really helped us get this started.”

Nordmann is no stranger to the swine club, having recently been a member during her time as a student before she graduated in 2023. She says taking on the role as adviser of the club offers a different perspective.

“It's cool to see these kids get to take over those responsibilities and kind of make something new out of the club — like the show," Nordmann said. "It’s really cool to see that and let them kind of do their thing."

Taylor Franz, is a junior at SDSU studying agricultural business. Franz, a Bingham Lake, Minnesota, native, is the show coordinator for the swine club. Having grown up raising and showing pigs, she enjoys

being involved in the club as a student.

“Bettering the industry is just kind of what my family's always been about, and making sure we can promote agriculture in a good light,” Franz said. “Swine club is a good podium to do that.”

In her position, Franz has been responsible for acquiring the facility, judges for the show and leading other efforts to organize the show. While getting the show up and running has required a lot of time and effort, Franz believes it has helped develop her leadership skills.

“It kind of showed me how to delegate tasks more often than just taking everything on by myself and making sure that I really have those connections to make sure that I can get everything done and ask for help when it's needed,” Franz said.

Students learned more about managing finances and organizing through this event,

something that Nordmann said can be beneficial to them in any future career.

“The show industry is just one that I think teaches students of any age a multitude of things, and being on the show side of it is one thing, but being on the administrative side is another, and it's a completely different ballgame,” Nordmann said.

Kennedy Tesch / Agweek

The SDSU Swine Club hosted their first annual pig show Sept. 21 for exhibitors ages 8 to 21 at the Dacotah Bank Center in Brookings, South Dakota.

Kennedy Tesch / Agweek

Students in SDSU's Swine Club worked together to host the first ever Jacks Classic pig show.

Nordman

SD farmer works to farm after spinal cord injury

BY ARIANA SCHUMACHER Agweek

Farming has always been the dream for Justin Minnaert.

“I have wanted to farm ever since I was a little kid. I was driving tractors before my feet would even touch the floor,” Justin said. “It’s just always been in my nature. There’s nothing else I’ve ever wanted to do. Whenever I would get out of school, I was always calling my dad and seeing where he was at and what I could do to help. It’s just been in my blood from day one.”

However, it's a dream that easily could have been stripped away from Justin.

In July 2020, he and his dad, Kevin, were helping with a Sioux Valley Cycle Club endurance race where their job was to go around and make sure that the course was clear.

It was just like any other day at the racetrack for the father-son pair. They were able to have a little downtime at the track before the races began that day.

“We sat up on top of the hill and talked about what work we had to do for the rest of the week, fences to fix, cows to check, machinery to get ready” Kevin recalled.

While doing the final check of the track at the end of the race, Justin’s life changed forever.

A portion of the event was on the motocross track, which Justin had ridden on hundreds of times. The course was a couple of miles of hilly terrain.

“I went off of a jump that I’ve done so many times, never thought twice about it,” Justin recalled.

Coming off that jump, Justin hit a rain rut on the downhill landing.

“I went over the bars. The bike caught me in the middle of the back and exploded two of my vertebrae. I was paralyzed instantly,” Justin said.

Luckily, Kevin was right behind him.

“I was 30 seconds behind him. I saw him on the ground, and I came up to him right away,” Kevin said. “The first thing he said to me was ‘I’m sorry dad, but I think I’m paralyzed.'”

Not only had Justin broken two vertebrae, leaving him unable to use his legs, he also had broken several ribs and had a collapsed lung.

“So, I was kind of struggling to breathe at the same time, just a cluster of emotions going on at once,” he said.

The paramedics were still at the track and were able to get Justin stabilized and flown to Sanford Hospital.

Photos by Ariana Schumacher / Agweek

Above: Justin Minnaert uses a lift chair on the back of his pickup to get in and out of farm equipment. Cover photo: Justin Minnaert drives the grain cart during harvest on his operation in Lake County, South Dakota.

Is the farming dream shattered?

Farming wasn’t something that Kevin thought Justin would be able to return to.

“When I saw him in the hospital, you know, it’s something that breaks every father’s heart just seeing their son in that much pain,” Kevin said.

However, he didn’t lose hope.

“I had hope, you know, just let him heal up, get him through the whole trauma process,” Kevin said.

When Justin was feeling somewhat better, Kevin had a heart-to-heart conversation with him.

“I asked him, I said, ‘Justin, what do you want to do?’ And he said, ‘Well dad, I want to keep farming,'” Kevin recalled. “And I said, ‘Well in that case, we are going to make it work.’”

The return to the field

Throughout all his recovery, Justin never lost sight of his goal which, in typical farmer fashion, was to be back in the field for harvest in 2020.

“Harvest is my favorite time of the year. I absolutely love being in the combine,” he said. “That was kind of my goal to drive me to help get myself better and get back and trying to find some form of normal after my life-changing event.”

It’s a goal that Justin achieved.

“I made it for corn harvest. We missed bean harvest, but I made it in time for corn harvest,” he said. “Once I got home, there wasn’t a day that we combined that I wasn’t in the combine.”

For the most part, Justin can do most of the things he used to do on the farm; the way he does them has just changed.

“We do the same thing as everybody else. It just takes us a little longer time to get things done,” Kevin said.

The biggest difference that Justin faces is simply getting into the farm equipment. But he has found a way to make it work,

thanks to a lift that has been installed on the back of his pickup. The lift is operated by a remote control.

“I can get the lift to pick up off the back, it swings around, and I get out of the driver’s seat on to the seat on the lift, and then it’ll swing me over and it will put me in basically any piece of equipment that I want to run,” Justin said. “I get in the combine, the semi, the skid steer, the tractor.”

He even uses the lift to do odd jobs too, from lifting things to gutting deer.

“Because it has a high lifting capacity for weight, so we’ve used it to pick up blown semi tires and take them to go get fixed or pick up any random thing,” Justin said.

Most of the tractors and combines are operated by hand anyways, so Justin didn’t have to make many adaptions to the equipment. In the planting and grain cart tractors, they have attached levers to the brake pedals so they can be used by hand.

They have a fully automatic semi that they have built hand controls so that Justin can operate it, while still making it accessible for others on the farm to drive as well.

“So, it doesn’t matter if I’m in there or someone else, we can just jump in there and go,” Justin said.

There are very few things that Justin isn’t able to do on the farm.

“I get out of power washing for the most part, so I mean that’s good and bad both,” he said with a smile. “I can help a little bit sometimes.”

Justin has a track chair that can be used for off-roading. It also can stand him upright.

“When I am in it, I can be fully standing if I need to work on something or sometimes, I’ll help a little bit with the power washing, but I tend to run over the hose more than I do anything,” he said.

Kevin is happy with the adaptions that Justin has made on the farm and is excited

Kevin Minnaert harvesting soybeans at his operation in Lake County, South Dakota.

minnaert: 10 Justin Minnaert driving the combine during harvest season.

minnaert

CONTINUED FROM M9

to have him back at the operation as the third generation.

“It’s just typical proud father,” Kevin said. “It’s wonderful. It’s back to game on that we’ve had since when he graduated from college. He’s by my side, I’m by his side. We do things side by side.”

“Being able to do a lot of these tasks, it just makes me feel like old me,” Justin said. “It just gives me that sense of self back in that I can still do what I loved before, I just have to take a little more time, and I need a little more help to do what I did before, but I can still farm and do what I love.”

Being a light for others in similar situations

Justin has been an inspiration to people around the state. To Justin, he’s just doing what he has always wanted to do.

“People say ‘oh you’re inspiring’ or whatever, but I don’t know, to me, it’s not. To me, I just wanted to come home, and I want to keep doing what I did before,” he said. “My worst days are the days where I’m not doing anything, so I just like to keep moving forward.”

Justin’s goal in sharing his story is to help others.

MINNaERT: 12

SOUTH DAKOTA HABITAT

Habitat is crucial to the things we enjoy about our state. Through a variety of programs and partnerships, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks is constantly working to preserve and improve quality habitat

GAME, FISH AND PARKS

PRIVATE LANDS HABITAT PROGRAMS

South Dakota Game Fish and Parks (GFP) has a variety of habitat programs that can help farmers and ranchers. These programs help enhance wildlife habitat and assist landowners’ management goals. GFP programs include woody habitat plantings, grassland and wetland restoration, and pasture and grassland infrastructure to promote rotational grazing.

PUBLIC HUNTING ACCESS PROGRAMS

GFP has several public hunting access programs available that are a great way to give back to the community while generating some additional income from those acres put into habitat or CRP. These access programs open up land for public hunting. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is popular in the James River Watershed. The Walk-In Area (WIA) and Controlled Hunter Access Program (CHAP) are also great options with lexibility.

The Walk-In Area (WIA) and Controlled Hunter Access Program (CHAP) are also great options with lexibility.

For more information about GFP’s habitat and access programs, call Alex Elias, Private Lands Habitat Biologist, 605.350.1725.

Justin, his sister Alissa, dad Kevin and mom Lauri on Justin's first day back in the field following the incident that led to his paralysis.

minnaert

CONTINUED FROM M10

“I just want to help those that end up in either my situation or a similar situation and just show them that there is, you know, hope after an injury like mine, because those first days, weeks, hours, after having something like this happen, such life altering, it’s dark,” he said.

To parents in similar situations, Kevin offers words of encouragement as well.

“It’s tough. It’s extremely tough,” he said. “You go through a lot of ups and downs, but don’t give up. If he’s willing and you’re willing both to make it work, then do it.”

Through Game Plan 4 Hope, Justin had been connected with another person in a wheelchair, something that really helped him through his recovery.

“Just seeing that person in a chair and kind of having their life together like it truly does give you that hope that like, hey this isn’t going to be the end, we are going to overcome it,” Justin said.

"I have wanted to farm ever since I was a little kid. I was driving tractors before my feet would even touch the floor."

Justin Minnaert

This year, he received the Governor’s award for Outstanding Individual with a Disability.

“I was really blown away,” Justin said. “I had zero idea that I was even nominated for such an award. As I started piecing things together, they told me who it was that nominated me, and they told me some of the other information they had known about different things I had done, and things started clicking, and I was like some family members must have been up to some stuff behind my back that I didn’t

know about. They did a really good job of playing shocked.”

It's an achievement Justin says he never would have accomplished alone.

“I’m the one in the chair, but I get to keep doing what I do because of the love of my family and my friends and my community,” he said. “They’ve wrapped their arms around me so graciously, and it makes it so much easier to just continue doing what I love because of them.”

Justin Minnaert receives the Governor's award for Outstanding Individual with a Disability on Sept. 24. Minnaert is center, with Gov. Kristi Noem at right.

The community at a benefit for Justin Minnaert at the Chester (South Dakota) Volunteer Fire Department. Minnaert was on the fire department before the accident. The funds raised from this benefit were used to purchase the adaptive equipment for Minnaert.

SD hemp harvest nears completion

BY KENNEDY TESCH Agweek

WAKONDA, S.D. — As hemp harvest nears completion in South Dakota, John Peterson, owner of Dakota Hemp near Wakonda, South Dakota, is working to get his 450 acres of industrial hemp squared away before he moves on to his corn and soybeans.

With this year’s wet and cooler than average temperatures early in the growing season, Peterson said hemp harvest was pushed later into the season than what is typically expected for the crop.

“We had a fairly wet spring. Ideally, we'd be looking to get it in the first part of May, but we were very wet those times, so this didn't get in until the first part of June,” Peterson said. “It’s around a 100-day crop, so around Labor Day we're usually looking to harvest it.”

Industrial hemp can be harvested for both the grain and the stalk. Hemp grain is typically crushed creating a hemp seed oil that can be used in food products such as protein powders or in cosmetics.

Peterson uses his regular combine with a bean header attached to harvest the grain from the hemp stalks, similar to a wheat crop. He expects to start harvesting his grain hemp within the next week as he is growing for certified seed which takes a bit longer to finish out.

“We planted about half of our varieties, of this tall fiber-only variety, or stalk variety, and then the other half was grown for seed that we’ll combine and then harvest the stalks afterward,” he said.

Hemp stalks can vary between 6 to 15 feet in height which blocks out sunlight along with weed pressure.

“If you have to walk into a cornfield to go fix a pivot or anything, it's a hot, miserable experience,” he said. “But, if you walk into a standing hemp field, it is five to 10 degrees cooler at ground level. So, we're excited for how well that's going to keep our soil in condition for next year, too.”

Once cut, the hemp stems follow a retting process to dry out before being baled.

“As far as harvesting these tall stalks behind me, most of them — unless you get over about 10 to 12 feet tall — a round baler can handle up to about a 10-foot long stalk,” he said. “If you get over about 10 feet tall, then you might need a multiple level sickle bar cutter, but there's a lot of ways to get this crop down on the ground.”

Kennedy Tesch / Agweek

John Peterson, owner of Dakota Hemp and farmer near Wakonda, South Dakota, checking out the stalks in his hemp field.

Peterson

CONTINUED FROM M13

The hemp bales are then taken to processing facilities to be turned into textiles, construction, paper, composites, animal bedding and other various products. South Dakota currently only has one fiber processing facility, Complete Hemp Processing, in Winfred, South Dakota. That will change with the addition of Dakota Hemp’s soon-to-beoperational processing facility.

Peterson has been purchasing contract hemp bales from farmers around the state over the last several years to use for the new processing facility. With the addition of the processing facility, Dakota Hemp will have the capacity to process around one and a half tons of hemp per hour. Peterson is hoping to have his plant up and running this fall.

“We're going to be taking the hemp stalk bales in from farmers across the state, and we'll be separating those into the hurd and fiber for various retail products that we'll make right there,” Peterson said.

Peterson said that the hemp harvest went fairly well for his contract growers this year.

“We definitely found from all our growers that hemp does not like wet feet. We found that with this year's wet soil conditions, hemp really didn't react well to that,” he said. “But everywhere it managed to grow, it grew well this year. A lot of guys are pretty happy with their yields so far.”

Looking ahead in his rotation, Peterson will be following his hemp with corn, and then onto soybeans before he rotates hemp in again. He is interested in seeing what kind of benefits the addition of hemp in his rotation can provide to the soil.

“We're very excited about the organic matter that we're going to be putting back into the soil. This root mass that we're putting out there, plus all the leaves defoliate and go right back into the soil for fertilizers,” Peterson said. “We're excited for how that's going to activate our soil.”

As the industrial hemp industry continues to generate more interest across South Dakota and the rest of the country, Peterson said more processing facilities in the state will be needed for the industry to continue to grow.

“Between the current processing plant, Complete Hemp Processing and mine coming online, we're going to be limited to about (3,000 to 4,000) acres grown in the state,” Peterson said. “That's about all we can process per year until we can get some more processing facilities coming online. So, anyone that's interested, please reach out to the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association.”

Youhaveavisionforthefutureandwe’rehereto helpyousucceed.We’vepartneredwithagribusiness clientsacrosstheregionformorethan40years.

John Peterson uses a multiple level sickle bar cutter to take down his hemp stalks grown for fiber.

Kennedy Tesch / Agweek

John Peterson, owner of Dakota Hemp, and Karll Lecher, chief operations officer for Dakota Hemp, stand in front of hemp stalks on Sept. 19 near Wakonda, South Dakota.

Kennedy Tesch / Agweek

Kennedy Tesch / Agweek Hemp stalks are separated from the hurd and fiber to make various retail products.

Grain bin, farm silo safety remains important

BY KENNEDY TESCH Agweek

VOLGA, S.D. — Two people were recently killed after being trapped in a farm silo near Volga, South Dakota, adding to a list of a number of grain and forage handling tragedies on farms across the region.

According to a Brookings County Sheriff's Office social media post, the individuals died Sept. 7 while repairing the roof of an 80-foot Harvestore silo that was nearly full. The Brookings County Sheriff and local emergency services responded to the scene at approximately 11:25 a.m. where upon arrival, the crews found both individuals had become entrapped inside and are believed to have been overtaken by toxic gas.

The individuals were identified as Larry Dalzell, 51, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee,

and Randi Vandekieft, 41, of Warner Robins, Georgia, who were both working for Heartland Tank Inc. Both individuals were extricated from the silo and seen by medical personnel who were able to determine both were deceased. The Brookings County Sheriff’s Office said it is continuing to investigate the incident.

Grain bin and farm silo safety

According to the 2023 Summary of U.S. Agricultural Confined Space-related Injuries and Fatalities, there were 29 fatal cases and 26 non-fatal cases involving agricultural confined spaces in the United States. This represents a 33.7% decrease from the 83 cases documented in 2022.

John Keimig, youth safety field specialist for SDSU Extension, said it is best to avoid entering a silo after filling it with grain or forage as this is when the structure is at its most dangerous while the fermentation process is happening.

“It's creating gases within 24 to 48 hours to level it, and then you should stay out of it for the next four to six weeks, because during

10,000 copies are direct-mailed every month to rural households in our 17 counties coverage area.

South Dakota Farm & Ranch

Mikkel Pates / Agweek

Silo and grain bin safety remains an important topic on the farm.

Keimig

silo: 16

that time is when these gases are being created,” Keimig said.

According to Keimig, these gases can include nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide, which can be fatal when inhaled. It is recommended that when a silo is opened for the first time after being filled, to run the silage blower for 20-30 minutes and wear a dust mask or respirator before entering the confined space.

Keimig also said silo structures are becoming a lesser used storage option on farms due to the efficiency and safety of building silage piles on the ground.

“It's easier to build a pile, a little safer, a little more effective, and a little less time consuming. If you think about it, when you fill a silo, you have to have a blower,” Keimig said. “Once you've cut a load of silage, you have to take it back to the silo and put it in the blower and those blowers don't handle quantities extremely quickly.”

Although bunkers or piles may be a safer option when storing silage, precautions should also still be taken when opening either of them for the first time as they are also tightly-sealed and gases can concentrate under the tarps, according to SDSU Extension.

As is the case with farm silos, working with grain bins also calls for safety precautions.

Angie Johnson, farm and ranch safety coordinator for NDSU Extension, said the best prevention for grain bin accidents is having quality grain going into the bin from the beginning.

“If grain gets moldy and out of condition, that can be a really key ingredient in a recipe

for disaster to create some of these chunking and bridging types of situations in a bin,” Johnson said. “Getting it cleaned before you put it in the bin for storage, that's going to be a huge preventative measure as well.”

Johnson said it is also important to monitor stored grain to prevent a situation where

someone must enter the bin to handle the grain.

“I like to tell producers, putting grain in a bin is not like fine wine. It doesn't get better with time,” she said. “If you've got

SAFETY? Farm HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE

increasing your awareness of farming hazards and making a conscious effort to prepare for emergency situations including fires, vehicle accidents, electrical shocks from equipment and wires, and chemical exposures. Be especially alert to hazards that may affect children and the elderly. Minimize hazards by carefully selecting the products you buy to ensure that you provide good tools and equipment. Always use seat belts when operating tractors, and establish and maintain good housekeeping practices.

Read and follow instructions in equipment operator’s manuals and on product labels.

Inspect equipment routinely for problems that may cause accidents.

Discuss safety hazards and emergency procedures with your workers.

Install approved rollover protective structures, protective enclosures, or protective frames on tractors.

Make sure that guards on farm equipment are replaced after maintenance.

Review and follow instructions in material safety data sheets (MSDSs) and on labels that come with chemical products and communicate information on these hazards to your workers.

CONTINUED FROM 16

temperature probes and sensors and you notice some temperatures are starting to increase in your bin, if moisture levels are increasing when you take samples, signaling to you that there's something going on in this bin and it's time to get that grain called out, it's got to move because it's not going to get better with time sitting in that bin.”

While all precautions can be followed, there may still be a time when someone needs to enter the bin. When that happens, Johnson recommends having a plan in place ahead of time.

“We never, ever want any human being entering that grain bin without really sitting down and sitting down with at least another person to figure out what this plan looks like,” Johnson said. “What can I do to get that crust or to get those chunks to break without ever going in the bin first? And then if I do decide that I have to go in the bin, what is my plan? What is my strategy?”

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When entering a bin, Johnson recommends at least one person to be outside the bin and to be able to hear the individual inside the bin. Station one individual on top of the bin who can always see the person in the bin. This individual can react quickly if something goes wrong. If a third person is on the ground, that person can call 911 and get help.

It is also important for the person entering the bin to be wearing a safety harness to prevent a fall.

“When you're going to be climbing that bin, make sure you've got proper fall protection and that your ladder system or your staircase system is current and not slippery,” Johnson said.

Other precautions that can help mitigate the risk of an accident occurring include running the aeration system prior to entering and opening the top of the bin for at least an hour to help remove any toxic gas levels. It is also recommended to tag out and lock out all grain handling equipment to help prevent accidental operation of the equipment while working inside.

Johnson mentioned that while there are some tools and resources available to help prevent grain bin-related accidents, accidents still happen.