The day bunker silo safety got personal
I often share with the non-farming public that farming can be compared to professional sports. Farming requires a good bit of physicality but unlike professional athletics there are no injured-reserve lists and certainly no time outs.
Any farming accident hurts… physically and financially, but fatal accidents result in the sale of the operation 70% of the time. As I’ve shared with you before, “You are the most important part of the operation.”
These facts became very real for a family whom I consider to be among my dearest friends. Luckily, there was no fatality, and the farm remains in the family today, but, oh my goodness, I wouldn’t wish the ensuing nightmare on an enemy, much less a friend.
John (not his real name) was going about his daily chores, feeding the dairy herd while his twin brother attended to an issue at the barn. It was an icy January day and the wind was out of the south, which contributed a bit to the mishap.
John was working alone, cleaning off some spoilage from the top of the bunker when he stepped a bit too close to the edge. The silage gave way and John plummeted 14 feet to the concrete silo floor below.
His head struck the concrete, and several hundred pounds of silage fell on top of him. Fortunately, a hired hand found him and rushed to get his brother to come help uncover him.
John’s injuries and the dairy’s remote mountainous location resulted in him being transported by helicopter to the hospital. And the MedFlight ride is where we can appreciate just how badly John was injured.
The dairy is within just a few miles of the North Carolina line. The trauma centers equipped to handle such serious injuries were in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and Johnson City, Tennessee.
MedFlight took John to Johnson City because by air, the Tennessee hospital was two minutes closer and every second counted.
When John arrived at the hospital, the trauma team assessed his injuries and began their excellent treatment to save him. My wife and I arrived at the hospital that evening and learned from John’s brother that the doctors gave him a less than 2% chance of survival.
A whole lot of prayers went up for John and between the prayers and the God-given talents of his care team, John not only survived but returned to work on a limited basis by the summer.
His speech was slow and he tired quickly but he made progress and today John enjoys a fruitful life. He was and is very lucky and blessed.
I take the time to tell you John’s story because I am astounded that a similar story with a much worse outcome doesn’t happen more often. Farmers take some crazy chances with their health and safety; sometimes without even realizing that they are doing so.
After nearly 63 years on the farm, I have taken some of those chances myself and suffered the consequences of several that came about.
Many farms use silo facing tools to keep the faces of their bunkers as close to 90 degrees as possible and rightly so. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. By keeping the silo face nice and straight, we reduce exposure of the next feeding to air and the elements.
Several elements of silo design and operational realities can help or hinder our efforts to strike a balance between maintaining the highest forage quality and safety around the silo.
First of all, packing the silo as tightly as possible and covering the silo as soon as possible reduce the need to be on top of the silage, removing spoilage.
Matching the width of the silo itself with the amount of silage fed out also helps us deliver high-quality silage in the safest manner. If the silo face dries out before you get back to that section for silo face removal, you may want to consider dividing the bunker into two separate bunkers.
Ideally, you want to feed about a foot of silage off the face daily (especially in the summer) to maintain the best quality silage as possible. Feeding slower (not taking enough off the face) will result in air penetration, moisture loss, yeast growth and decreased feed value.
And so finally, I hope that what I have shared with you that the most important part of bunker silo management is … attention to the details. Those details include: silo design and orientation; proper filling and packing; rapid covering and weighting down the cover; silo face management and feed out rates.
All these factors help keep you in the tractor or loader seat and off the top of the silo with a silage fork. If you think that equipment to maintain the face of your bunker silo is too expensive?
Think about John. What do you think it costs to spend weeks in ICU, away from your operation? What would John give to go back and not take that tumble from the top of his bunker?
Those totals I cannot even imagine but I can tell you this. After all my years farming, doing the right thing at the right time is always the cheapest way to go in the long run.
Upcoming Events
Aug. 18--VQA Sale.
Aug. 21--Deadline to consign calves to the September VQA Sale
Aug. 24--VQA Steer Take Up.
Aug 26--VQA Heifer Take Up.
Aug. 27--Hay and Forage Field Day.
Sept. 8--Evergreen SWCD Meeting.
Sept. 8--Smyth Washington Board Meeting.
Sept. 17--SWVA 4-H Tractor Club.
Sept. 22--VQA Sale.
Sept. 24--Smyth Washington Cattlemen Meeting, 4-H Center, Abingdon, 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 25-27--Chilhowie Apple Festival.
Sept. 28--VQA Steer Take Up (tentatively.)
Sept. 30--VQA Heifer Take-Up (tentatively).
Oct. 3--IH Days, Benham, Ky.
Oct. 6--Cattleman Board Meeting
Oct.. 8--OGATA FFA Day.
Oct. 10--Hokie Bugfest, Squires Center, Campus.
Oct. 22--Smyth Washington Cattleman Meeting, 4-H Center, 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 3--VQA Sale.
Nov. 9 & 11--VQA Take-Up.
Nov.16 --Private Pesticide License Recertification, 300 Gordondale Road, Atkins, 6 p.m.
Nov. 18--Private Pesticide License Recertification, Office, 8 a.m.
Dr. Andy Overbay is the agriculture and natural resources extension agent for Smyth County.
