Safety First

Farming has always been a dangerous occupation. I Googled this to try and get examples as to why and I started to feel a little sick to my stomach. I'm just going to close that browser and talk about some more personal examples...

In the 10 years I've lived on the farm I've seen Vachel make a lot of changes focused towards safety. Probably the biggest move he made was making safety a core value and makes sure people actually follow the safety rules, it's not just words on paper. They deal with cattle over 1,200 pounds, heavy machinery, working in all kinds of weather and late into the night. Things happen. So here are some of the things they do:

John wearing his back brace last summer

• Everyone on the farm attends annual safety town halls where they go through a concentrated understanding of the farm and evaluate or upgrade safety equipment. Last year they discussed the fertilizer anhydrous amonia tanks, and how you can die if that is inhaled. This year it's grain bins.
• The farm provides everyone OSHA rated steel toed boots, safety glasses, ear protection, back support, etc. 
• All employees and custom hires must have emergency forms on file next to the first aid kit.
• Emergency numbers are posted and visible. Want to know how important this is? One night about 7 years ago I came home from work to find Vachel waiting for me. We had to talk. He had accidentally ingested a microscopic amount of cattle antibiotic that often kills humans, and there's no cure. As soon as he realized it he immediately called the emergency number and they called him at set times throughout the night to see how he was doing. Not that calling him would have been any help if he had ingested enough to matter...and we don't use that antibiotic anymore either.
• In hot weather everyone takes water breaks, and Gatorade and Popsicles are always available to prevent heat exhaustion.
• Equipment is powered down and keys removed with all safety locks in place when servicing.
• Fire extinguishers everywhere, and in all tractors. Last year a baler caught fire, this year the skid steer caught fire. Extinguishers were needed.
• Hire only licensed electricians (remember, this is an industry where a lot of people know enough to get by on any number of manual-labor type things). This actually saved some cattle from being electrocuted when a wire shortened a blew a secondary fuse.
• Amber lights on top of any equipment with reflective slow moving signs when hauling or moving equipment down busy highways.

Okay, when I asked for Vachel of some of the things they use for safety the list he sent me was a lot longer. There were probably 30 points bulleted out. But seriously, I have a point to this bigger than what he does on the farm. I mean, I want everyone to be safe and I could share some stories that include me trying to clean out horrific wounds and almost passing out, or the amount of time I've spent sitting in hospital rooms (and strangely my  mom as well, even though her only relation to the farm is me), but let's get to my main point.

I have three very important people that CAN NOT be harmed by people on the farm not paying attention. My two daughters and my nephew. Anyone responsible for harming one of these three would most likely not survive the confrontation. More than a farm site, this is my home. I have tractors and semi's full of cattle that use my driveway, the same driveway my daughter and nephew ride their bikes and the battery-powered gator. That's in addition to people just driving on it. We have a swingset in my backyard that they play on and their "forest," which is our tree grove between the house and the commodity shed. They need to be safe while outside. It's not like they're ever outside without an adult, but being there isn't always enough.

Vachel came up with a genius idea. GENIUS. We went to Menards and bought some tall traffic cones, which we keep in the back of the gator. So when we go outside to play the first thing we do is "drive" the cones to either end of the driveway. This blocks people from using the driveway and alerts everyone to the fact the kids are outside playing.

At some point the kids are going to get hurt while playing outside. They'll fall on the gravel and skin their hands/knees. They'll fall while climbing a tree. Normal things that happen to kids. I can't control those types of accidents. But in order to allow them the type of freedom they need to just be kids, we had to find some way to control the environment around them to make it as safe as possible. And hopefully this can be solved for with something as simple as traffic cones.

Older kids moving the cones

Driving the gator to the swing set

Finding a New Guy

Last week the farm hired a new guy full time. His name is Nolan. We haven't met...but apparently that will change tomorrow night when he and Austin come over for home-made egg rolls (I don't make those, that's all Vachel) and to watch Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Vachel is going to watch the girls while Austin, Nolan, and I watch the movie.

Over the last couple of years Vachel has looked for new employees several times. Each time he starts a new employee search we're all reminded of  how difficult it is. When I say "we're all," what I mean is I get to hear Vachel complain about it while he and Austin do all the work.

I've worked for the same Financial Services company for almost 12 years in a variety of different positions, so I'm used to taking the standardized job description, working with someone in HR to post the position, and filter through the applications. Then there's the interview process, offering/declining the position interviews, wage discussions, and on-boarding process. It's stressful, but there are usually a decent set of people to interview and it's a fairly standard process. Not so much when hiring on the farm.

First there's the fact that this isn't necessarily something that's taught. The HR piece tends to be missing from most college level agriculture classes. When Vachel initially made the decision to hire someone a few years ago he ended up reaching out to people he already knew had experience in hiring/managing employees, both in agriculture and "in-town" jobs. Creating the job description and pay package can be difficult if you've never done it before.

Then there's the complexities of the job itself. In this particular situation, the farm already has Austin managing all daily operations so they didn't want someone just like Austin. John has a lot of different skills, so they need someone who will work well with both Austin and John to help the knowledge transfer as John looks toward retirement. (For anyone who has ever lived in a family farming operation, I think we all know that "retirement" just means that instead of showing up to work everyday to do chores and stuff, they show up everyday to check in then help out doing whatever they feel like. Farmers never quit farming.) They need someone to fill in for the daily work (i.e. feeding the cattle) and preferably mechanically inclined, which is a gap between both Austin and John. The  new employee  needs to be someone okay with working in all kinds of weather, have skills in business, mechanics, cattle, and agronomy. It needs to be someone who is willing to follow the core values on the farm (Safety, Environmental Sustainability, Family, and Integrity) Luckily we farm close enough to both Des Moines and Ames where a spouse can find a job if they don't have an issue with commuting, but there's the factor that a future-or-current spouse may need to find a job, plus trying to find a place to live close to the farming operation.

And where do you find someone? Most of the people in our area already work on family farms, and most people in agriculture seem to go back to their family farms. Vachel found Austin while picking up cattle one day in Knoxville. Austin was working as foreman at the cattle auction when Vachel happened to ask him if he knew anyone who wanted to farm. A couple of weeks ago Vachel and I were test driving a car, chatting with the sales guy riding in the back seat, only to find out the sales guy used to work at a farming operation in NW Iowa and quit because he didn't see any opportunity for advancement. That conversation led to exchanging numbers to see if he wanted to come out and work part-time as needed. My response as I'm driving a vehicle I'm unfamiliar with in the dark: "Hey, Vachel, it's great that you guys are becoming farming BFFs, but do you think we can focus on the car for a few minutes?" The job was posted on Facebook, in Iowa Universities/colleges, Industry Groups and Peer Groups. All that being said, Nolan and Austin already knew each other so word-of-mouth seems to be the most successful.

My biggest issue with hiring someone new is that I LIVE at the farm site. I have two little girls and a dog. This person is around my family and everything I hold dear. They better be trustworthy and conscious of the fact this isn't just a farm, but a home and family. Even though Austin was in charge of hiring this time, he didn't get to make any final decisions until Vachel decided if this guy was worthy enough to be around our family.

All of that goes into hiring someone new at the farm, and the guys were lucky enough to find Nolan. Although I'm pretty sure the reason Nolan took the job was because he knows I make them cookies when they dig my car out of the snow and keep the driveway plowed...which reminds me, I probably owe the neighbors cookies as well...

Nolan on the farm. I'm not the only one who gets vehicles stuck.

Rain, thunder, lightning, wind, sleet, snow...and cattle

From inside our nice, warm living room, snuggling with a toddler, baby, and dog, I watched Austin and Nolan walking across the front driveway. They were covered in sleet and walking through slush from an earlier rain...as in, five minutes earlier. Today's weather is absolutely crazy, as all news reports and school cancellations will tell you.

Every time we get weather like this (most notably the ice storms/blizzards in 2007) I think of the poor cattle, stuck outside and having to live through this horrible weather. And while today I saw Austin and Nolan, all too often I've watched my husband and father-in-law trudge that same path as they work to care for cattle in all kinds of weather. I also have to note that I helped one time (which is why the blizzard in 2007 sticks out in my head). Not only did I hate every second of shoveling ice covered, heavy snow out of bunks, but a cow stole my scarf. However, that's a story for another day.

While it's not feasible to bring the cattle into my house to make sure they're safe and warm (they're not house-trained, and I'm not cleaning that crap up...literally), my husband has assured me on many occasions that they do everything they can to make sure the cattle are well cared for. Not just during poor weather, but all year round so that the cattle are better equipped to handle different weather conditions as well as maintain overall good health.

Here is what they do before, during, and directly after any bad weather:

• Allow shelter for the animals whenever possible
• Construct wind breaks, keeping away cold wind and allowing the animals to be warmer
• Ensure all ice dams are broken. This allows any rainfall to run out of the lots and into the manure management sediment basins and filter strips
• After the storm place fresh bedding in the pens to allow for a warm, dry place to lay
• In extreme events,  occasionally add some antibiotics for a day just to help the animals get over the high stress period. This prevents a portion of the animals from getting sick and increasing the chances of death

Cattle hanging out in the shed during today's rain

Part of a wind break

Throughout the rest of the year, they do other stuff too:

• Concrete in pens to allow animals a solid footing. This is kept as clean as possible to provide a dry surface, out of any mud, for animals to walk
• Earthen mounds that are re-built annually. These create spaces for water to quickly drain and provides additional shelter from the wind. 
• Heated fresh-water tanks in each pen, allowing cattle access to good water 24/7
• Work with a Nutritionist to actively monitor feed rations. Cattle generate heat based on their stomachs and how the internal bacteria breaks down various feed products. Partnering with a good Nutritionist allows for cattle to receive the best combination of rations

Caring for the cattle is not only a moral responsibility, but these are the animals that feed our family and families all over the U.S. If they can't stay warm and dry in my living room, at least I know they're being taken care of by some of the best guys around.