CABOT — William Thiele is fully aware of the safety hazards of working a farm. He and his brother, James, are sixth-generation farmers. Their dairy farm in Cabot has been in the family for 156 years. Being careful and observing safety protocol is important.

William Thiele is the director of state Farm Bureau District 15. He works hard advocating for farmers in his district.

The state Farm Bureau represents farmers and their families. Thiele has been director of District 15 since 2021, representing Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties.

“Being a dairy farm, we’re working with large animals, of course, and sometimes animals (don’t) do what you want them to. Working with animals of that size can be cantankerous at times. If you do the wrong thing around them, especially with cattle, if you spook them, they can get scared and then they can do any myriad of things,” said Thiele.

National Farm Safety and Health Week begins Monday, Sept. 16 and runs through Friday, Sept. 20 and is in its 80th year. The event aims to increase awareness of the risks inherent in farming and educate farmers on how to remain safe and continue to work their farms and take care of their families.

Brittany Speer, of Cabot, also is from a farming family and has knowledge of what can happen with some of the equipment farmers use.

“There’s the PTO (power take off). When you hook up a new tractor to a piece of equipment, it helps with the hydraulics,” Speer said. “It spins at a very high rate of speed. You have to make sure it is properly secured. If you put anything near it, it could be sucked into it. It happened to my grandfather, and luckily they were able to stop it before it caused any huge damage. But he did have hip issues due to that accident.”

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injury in 2022 showed agriculture, forestry and fishing have the highest rates of fatal workplace injuries, most due to equipment or transportation, another safety issue Speers names when talking about the hazards that farmers face.

“Going down the roads and not having people respect you and your equipment, that is always a danger,” Speer said, because people get impatient when sitting behind a slow-moving farm vehicle.

Speers said drivers in the county have some patience when they come across a farmer moving equipment, because they usually aren’t going very far and it won’t take very long to get out of a driver’s way.

“One of the biggest things people should look for is the slow-moving-vehicle sign,” Speer said. It is the triangle with the red and orange. That warns drivers that the piece of equipment or trailer is going at a slower rate.”

Taking your time and respecting all people on the road can save lives.

“These farmers, they need to go home to their families at night, too, and they are just trying to feed and clothe the world. That’s what they do,” she Speer.

Farmer safety isn’t just physical, it is mental as well. The agricultural industry has one of the highest suicide rates.

“It’s a really sad thing,” Speer said. “Farming can sometimes be so isolating, because you wake up and you see the same co-workers that you have seen the last four days.”

Speer is a Young AG Professional Chair with the Butler County Farm Bureau and a certified AG Listener, meaning she completed a course allowing her to understand the signs of depression within the industry.

“We have to make sure that we’re looking for the correct signs and look out for others, including our parents and grandparents,” said Speer.

Much of the stress for farmers is financial. A recent report from the American Farm Bureau reports profits are down 25%.

“That means that farmers are basically taking a 25% cut,” Speer said.

“Dairy farmers are paid per hundredweight for their milk, but when you buy a gallon of milk from the store, you’re paying per gallon. It’s the middle, there are a lot of things that cost money, like milk processing. The extra things in there and not all of the profits flow down to the farmers,” Speer said.

“We are stressing all the time to buy local and really trying to get people to understand that when you buy locally, like at a farmers’ market, you are helping support those local farmers who are in need of your funds. That five bucks you might have spent today might help them. That’s what we are pushing here in Butler County,” Speer said.

William Thiele said the Farm Bureau is working hard to always get additional support from legislators for farmers throughout the state.

“We have a good rapport with our local, state and federal legislators,” Thiele said. “We have done a lot of good in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., advocating for the farmers in Pennsylvania. And there are a lot of benefits to being a Farm Bureau member.”

The bureau offers many benefits to its members, and is always focused on safety first.

“There is a Women’s Leadership Committee that does a lot with kids, like a recent coloring contest showing what is safe and what is not,” Thiele said.

Having a family farm means teaching your children safe practices while on the farm.

“We’re teaching at a very young age,” Speer said. “I have a two-year-old, so my husband and I are very aware that when we bring her to the family farm, we have to keep an eye on her at all times. When equipment is moving she might not be aware, but we’re teaching her at a very young age to stay back and stand where you can see the person driving.”

With support of organizations such Butler County Farm Bureau, the state Farm Bureau and the National Farm Safety and Health Week, there is hope farmers will feel supported and remember to stay safe and continue to take care of their farms and their families.

More information on the Butler County and Pennsylvania farm bureaus can be found at www.pfb.com. Information on the National Farm and Safety Health Week can be found at https://www.necasag.org/nationalfarmsafetyandhealthweek/.