VIRGINIA BEACH—With heavy grain production in agricultural regions like Hanover County come stories of farmers who had close calls while working in or around grain bins.

Virginia Farm Bureau Federation state board member Leigh Pemberton recalled a near-tragedy involving grain entrapment in Hanover about 20 years ago.

“A farmer went into a grain tank of corn,” he recalled. “He was a good-sized man, and started going down, and they had a hard time getting him out. They had ropes around him, and it was really a struggle. I think they even had to unload part of the tank. He almost died, but eventually they did get him out.”

Grain incidents are on the rise. Purdue University’s recent report on agricultural confined space-related injury and fatality cases in 2022 found 42 reported grain-related entrapments, representing a 44.8% increase over 2021—the highest number of entrapments in over a decade. However, only 36% of the cases involved a fatality, which was lower than the five-year average.

Awareness and safety trainings may be helping. Earlier this year, Hanover County Emergency Medical Services received a grain rescue kit and hands-on training, funded by Hanover County Farm Bureau.

Additionally, safety educators from RescueTechs, LLC in Pennsylvania demonstrated The Great Wall of Rescue for farmers in November at the VFBF Annual Convention in Virginia Beach. The device features multiple interlocking panels that can be built around an entrapped worker in a grain bin, with an auger to remove the grain to safely extricate them.

Matt Brett, assistant chief at City of Allentown EMS, and co-instructor Patrick Deegan led the demonstration using a large tub of grain in the exhibition hall. Brett stepped into the grain to show how quickly his leg was immersed.

“Some counties have purchased these devices, and we’re getting the word out on why it’s important to have these and be trained on how to use them,” Brett explained.

RescueTechs focuses on safety education programming in agricultural communities where first responders may not have on-farm experience.

“They can be the best technical rescue people in the world, but put them in a farm environment, and they may have no idea,” Brett continued.

Colonial Farm Credit, a financial cooperative serving member-borrowers in rural, grain-relevant regions of Virginia and Maryland, supported the grain bin safety program and convention demonstration with a $10,000 grant. Five technical trainings with rescue devices have been held in eight counties so far, in conjunction with the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Safety Advisory Committee.

For more information on grain bin rescue devices and safety, visit vafb.com/Safety or call Dana Fisher, VFBF safety coordinator, at 540-975-1849.

Media: Contact Eric J. Rickenbach, owner ofRescueTechs, at 717-933-2363; or Fisher at 540-975-1849.