There is so much fun, hard work, life lessons and learning to be had on a farm. Endless excitement: the green lush fields to run in, bales of hay to climb or hide behind, haylofts to climb and run through, animals to name, visit and check on and so much else I don’t even know about.
I feel that families being raised on farms are privy to unique experiences. They grow up helping on the farm, knowing and understanding animals, feeding the animals, helping to fix things around the farm. They learn and understand a lot about what’s happening on the farm. They get real life experience about life and death, which absolutely amazes me.
Simply put, along with all that fun, there is a lot about danger they need to be taught. Because of this, they grow up with a completely different set of safety rules than non-farming children.
Not only do they need to know the regular stuff like don’t touch a hot stove, they also need to know what to do when there’s heavy machinery turned on, the dangers associated with large animals, tractors, farm accidents, haylofts, PTO’s and so much else.
Luckily I have lots of farming friends that have been so great to talk to and attempt at teaching me some basics.
Most parents I’ve spoken to have said that farm safety is all about exposure. It’s about teaching and talking things through all the time. Teaching safety rules very early allows them to become automatic.
One father said “every night you’re in the barn you have a new conversation about safety, you can’t teach it, it’s instilled”. They’ve said that so much about safety is modeled. You show your kids how to do things properly and safely and they then will do it properly and safely – you take shortcuts and they’ll grow up taking the same shortcuts – which could result in devastation.
One mom explained that she wants her children to understand about animal sense, teaching them signs to look for in an animal when they’re not feeling well/distressed/threatened/happy.
Knowing your animals can often reduce the chance of risk.
Safety is everywhere you go, you talk about it every time you go into the barn and each visit is like a refresher, a new conversation about safety.
One mom discussed that the notion of freak accidents happening is terrifying but also a real possibility on farms. We’ve all heard tragic stories. Because farmers work with such heavy equipment, it takes a split second for things to go wrong, “a bad choice can be the difference between life and death”.
Another mom said that their kids know that not listening or doing something you’re not supposed to can result in getting you killed. There was lots of talk about tractors and machinery, instilling the fact that tractors are so tall children cannot be seen. Making a rule for your family that works so kids know exactly what to do when the tractor is on. For one family it means standing on the deck up high and waiting for a gesture from daddy, that indicates he’s seen you.
For another family the moment they see a tractor or machine approaching them, they must stand beside a building. I think that this really just scratches (or doesn’t even) the surface of the scope of farm safety. It’s very complex and extremely important. I turned to some of the kids who live on farms for their take on what’s important to remember about farm safety. Here are some very real, very smart responses.
Ruby (five) Stewart Farms: “Mommy cows are very cross, and if she has a baby you can’t go in the pen, you have to be careful with the calf and know where to pet them and take your time. You don’t walk in to a farm with cows you don’t know because you don’t know how they’ll react.” She also said that if you see the tractor coming t you’re not allowed to move towards the tractor until the tractor stops and daddy sees her and makes a gesture.
Avery (six) Corhaven Farm: “You have to be quiet around the cows so you don’t get kicked. You stay at their head and never run behind them. Be careful in the old barn because the mixer of feed is in there and it turns around and you could get hurt. Stay away from the wheels on the tractors.”
Mason (four) Netherleigh Farm: “I have to stay away from the creek, it’s not safe when we’re alone. I have to stay away from the electric fence because you could get a shock don’t run and don’t forget to ask if you want to touch something.”
Charlotte (three) Corhaven Farm: “Run away from cows so they don’t step on me, stay with mommy when tractor is running, stay with mommy and daddy to stay safe and be quiet around cows so you don’t scare them.”
Rosie (five) Rosbern Farm: “You need to be careful of electric fences because they could zap you and hurt you. Donkey’s bite.”
Ray (three) Rosbern Farm: You have to be careful of the cows, he also said they could bite you!”
Sheridan (eight) Pleasant Way Farms: “It’s important to stay away from the machinery and tractors. You can’t always be seen when the tractors are running so you need to be able to be seen.”
Kaleb (seven) Eli-Da Jerseys Farm: “It’s important to stay away from the cows and other animals so you don’t get kicked or bit.”
Keagan (five) Eli-Da Jerseys Farm: “You should not climb on tractors or any machinery and not go near manure!”
Hearing their responses tells me that these safety procedures and precautions are taught, preached and instilled in them from an early age. Keep it up parents, you’re doing a great job raising our future farmers and we thank you for that.
