UMASH shows Farmfest attendees the dangers of farming

By LAURA COLE

The Land Staff Writer

The UMASH (Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center) Wellness Pavilion is returning to Farmfest, and will have demonstrations, exhibits, and health screenings available to show attendees.

Based at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, UMASH is a federally funded center which covers a five state region: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin. The organization provides both research and outreach in an effort to improve health and safety in the ag industry.

Outreach Director and Center Coordinator Megan Schossow explained the research varies in subject from the social science topic of mental health to the engineering realm of building devices that can aid farmers in their work. Aspects of her role involve working with the researchers regarding their findings, translating those findings into a knowledge that will be of value to farmers, and providing information and resources via a variety of avenues — including Farmfest.

While UMASH has had a presence at Farmfest for a number of years, Schossow stated they started working with IDEAg (the organizers of Farmfest) about five years ago to have a more prominent presence for health, safety, and wellness in the agricul- tural community. She added many of the farm show’s 30,000 attendees are the folks UMASH thinks about when improving the health of those in agriculture.

A former agronomist with an ag background, Schossow has been with UMASH for about six years. “I grew up on a farm, so I understand that the work needs to get done. How do we also do it safely? There are a lot of programs and funding and infrastructure in place that will help folks do that,” Schossow stated.

The UMASH Wellness Pavilion will have three main components: live safety demonstrations, wellness and safety exhibits, and health screenings.

Demonstrations will occur daily at 11 a.m., and again at 2 p.m. There will be six different demos that will run consecutively at those times, though attendees are also encouraged to visit the area and interact with staff during non-demo times.

To decide on demonstration topics, Schossow stated they look at main incident areas, as well as the jobs on the farm with more risk. This year, UMASH has teamed up with a variety of organizations to present the following:

ATV/UTV and Lawn Mower Safety; Farm Rescue and Adaptive Equipment; Grain Engulfment Simulator; Grain and Confined Space Safety; Power Takeoff (PTO); and a demonstration of the Grain Weevil, a machine designed to decrease or eliminate the need for a farmer to enter a grain bin.

Schossow said it’s been shown that for people to understand risk, they have to see themselves as being at risk. “We are able to demonstrate instances that we don’t want to happen. We can literally do a grain bin entrapment, and show folks how intense that scenario can be, but also how to prevent it,” she stated. “We can show the grain bin entrapment and then also demonstrate a life harness, pulley system, PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), whatever it might be to help make that work safer.”

Regarding farm safety, Schossow stated she has seen a real interest and prioritization — particularly