In the spring and fall we talk a lot about safety on the farm. During our busiest times of the year, it is easy to get in a hurry. Mother Nature doesn’t always give us a large window of opportunity, and you have to make hay when the sun shines. Or in our case at harvest, pick corn while the field’s dry.
When you are working hard to bring in the bounty of the county and beyond, you have to make sure that you are taking care of yourself, your family, and any employees that you have. We know that you can’t have eyes and ears in every corner of your operation all the time. Therefore there is peace of mind in knowing that your equipment, storage, and tools have more safety precautions attached to them.
Sukup Manufacturing is the only family-run grain storage business in America. The Iowa-based company has long had the reputation of building high-quality grain storage options for any sized operation. However, as we look to the upcoming harvest, there is peace of mind knowing that they look well beyond just the quality of their products; they also have a focus on the safety of you and your operation in mind.
On day one of the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, I had the chance to catch up with Jason Arndt of Sukup. He talked about how, for Sukup, “Safety” isn’t just a buzzword to sell products, but it is a way of life for the engineers and employees of the company. They want to make sure that the equipment you buy from them can provide you with several options to protect yourself from what can be very preventable accidents.
Grain entrapment, sadly, is an ever-present danger when you work with grain storage and handling. When we get in a hurry, we sometimes don’t think about the situation we put ourselves in. Arndt says that is why the safety that Sukup offers starts right where most accidents can happen, in the bin. Sukup has a Knot-Passing Pulley that is installed in their bins to help prevent grain entrapment right at the manhole cover.
Safety continues outside the bins where doors can sometimes not be shut properly. Sukup has completely redesigned their doors to prevent that from happening. Arndt explains that if the inner doors are not properly shut, the outer door will not close. This prevents spillage and safety around that outer door.
Also, the sweep technology has improved drastically. With Sukup’s paddle sweep, you can avoid the dangers of the auger system that we used to see. They are slso more efficient in a grain-moving sense as well. Whereas the old auger systems meant you still had plenty of shoveling left to do.
It’s never too early to talk about farm safety either. That is why Sukup has started targeting children with the message of farm safety with Ben the Bin.
Learn more about Sukup Manufacturing, its products, and its commitment to farm safety on its website. You can watch our full discussion with Jason Arndt below.
