From the President’s desk
Fresh crops, new business to be found in 2021
Part of my role as the president of this organization is to speak out on behalf of our industry — agriculture.
I had such an opportunity in February as the Joint Finance Committee began deliberating the suggested needs in Delaware's upcoming budget and bond bills.
The two pieces of legislation, passed every year by our great General Assembly, focus on the daily needs of our state leadership and the organizations and industries that help keep us running. Agriculture, of course, plays a crucial role in that process. It is imperative that we continue prioritizing the agricultural industry to maintain our food supply.
Speaking to the Joint Finance Committee in support of a suggested $10 million line item for farmland preservation in the bond bill is just one way I can ensure the Delaware Farm Bureau supports these efforts. This number was unchanged from last year's bill and is recommended to remain the same over the next several years. Farmland preservation helps provide a backbone to our generational farmers who have spent their lives working to feed the people of the First State through agricultural means. It gives them a way to preserve their land as farmland forever, regardless of what the future may hold.
Delaware Farm Bureau News
Editor Jennifer Antonik jenn.antonik@defb.org
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State Board of Directors
That is an incredible feat. It is humbling to have the opportunity to promote such efforts and help our farmers see the importance and value of their mission. It certainly is my hope that this program continues as time goes on and that farmers who have worked for their entire lives to pay for their own land would not have to give back such a substantial portion of the development value in order to be able to preserve that land for their next generation.
I was also happy to see a $2.9 million request for cover crop investments which will work to help offset the cost of plantings for many farmers in our great state. Like the farmland preservation figure, this number remains unchanged from last year's bond bill and is recommended to stay the same over the next several years.
This cover crop investment offered to us by our state leadership allows us to continue to have a positive impact on our environment. It reminds us that while we, as farmers, support our neighbors as stewards of the land, we are also being supported by our neighbors throughout the state.
This support is ever-so important now that we are heading into a new planting season clouded by the same pandemic problems, we saw last year.
Even at a federal level, the Delaware Farm Bureau has been working to advocate for farmers in the First State who desperately needed relief from a variety of pandemic-related factors.
The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, or CFAP, was offered to help relieve some of the effects of the pandemic in its early months. But it was flawed in that some of our poultry producers were not covered by the program. As we discussed previously in this column, I had the chance to advocate for those farmers so they would be included in relief measures.
Leadership heard our plea and
agreed to expand the CFAP program to be more inclusive for those farmers. This certainly was encouraging.
More recently, we learned that the new administration suspended processing and payments for the CFAP program, acknowledging that leadership intends ". . .to take additional steps to bring relief and support to all parts of food and agriculture during the coronavirus pandemic..."
Although this is disheartening to hear, I echo American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall’s comments when he stated, “We recognize the new administration’s desire to review important farmer and rancher assistance programs and we urge USDA to take into consideration our comments on how to improve such programs. We appreciate that CFAP applications will continue to be accepted, and we encourage the swift resumption of distribution of resources to the people who are working to keep America’s pantries stocked.”
Even with the bumps in the road, our state and nation has made it clear that agricultural producers have been and will remain crucial to our economy, health, and development.
As we look to move forward from the crisis in which we found ourselves last year, agricultural producers in Delaware are also seeking ways to be better stewards of not just our finances, but the environment, as well.
Like legislators, we know that in order to provide for bountiful harvests for generations to come, we have to remain fiscally as well as environmentally responsible among other priorities.
Aside from the budget and bond bills, Governor John Carney signed Senate Bill 33 Wednesday, Feb. 10. Prior to this legislative piece, 25% of all Delaware's energy needs were to be offered via renewable methods by 2025. This new legislation pushed that to 40% by 2035.
We know that farmers in Delaware have been working toward improved energy use and I'm excited to say we'll be communicating how Delaware farmers have been and are continuing to be better environmental stewards. We have a powerful story to tell and plan on sharing the many stories over the next year. Find our latest online at defb.org.
President
Richard Wilkins
1st Vice President
Laura Hill
2nd Vice President
William Powers, Jr.
County Presidents
Kent: Jacob Urian
Sussex: Steve Breeding
New Castle: Stewart Ramsey
Young Farmers and Ranchers
State Chair: Mollie Lynch
Kent Chair: Michael Lynch
Women’s Committee
State Chair: Mary B. Gooden
Kent Chair: Rebecca Bobola
Sussex Chair: Constance Fox
New Castle Chair: June Unruh
Kent County Directors
Bruce Dempsey
David Marvel
Ted Bobola Jr.
Sussex County Directors
Alan Bailey
Mark Davis
New Castle County Directors
Bruce Patrick
Will Powers, III
Ryan Greer
Delaware Farm Bureau President Richard Wilkins
Blue Jacket Bonanza awardees announced for 2021
The Delaware Farm Bureau is proud to announce the winners of its annual Blue Jacket Bonanza.
The program benefits students enrolled in the FFA program in Delaware who might be financially unable to purchase their own traditional blue jacket.
They are awarded based on need, community service activities, leadership skills and a committment to the FFA program. Essays and reference letters are required of each applicant.
This year, 44 students will receive jackets from the Blue Jacket Bonanza during their Delaware FFA State Convention held every spring. Since 2015, Delaware Farm Bureau has awarded 335 jackets totaling more than $17,000 through the program.
“To me, it was just an incredible feeling to own my first personal Sussex Tech FFA jacket. Wearing it connects me to the members and officers who came before me and keeps me focused on the goals ahead,” Sussex Technical High School student Taylor Bullis said during last year's presentation at Delaware State University. She received a blue jacket in 2019.
“To me, my blue jacket means much more than just my involvement in the FFA. It symbolizes my growth as a person, as a student and as a leader. Our blue corduroy jacket is much more than just fabric and stitching. It’s a symbol of hope, of hard work, of determination, of sacrifice and of friendship. My blue corduroy jacket represents how the FFA, just like the Farm Bureau, has stood the test of time and will continue to stand," she added.
The following students, listed by school, will be awarded blue jackets from the Delaware Farm Bureau in 2021:
Lake Forest High School
Cole Murphy
Kailyn Pippin
Bethany Beyer
Jordan Hand
Madison Houdek
Caesar Rodney High School
Corinne Hastings
Katelyn Curtis
Dillana Reed
Odessa High School
Ann Wall
Chloe Myers
Ella Vandervort
Natalie Holdren
Harmony Golden
Appoquinimink High School
Jacey Wiley
Erin Kuzminski
Edwina Chen
Seaford High School
Lillie Larimore
Leila Sturgill
Laurel High School
Brayden Hearn
Woodbridge High School
Laney Scott
Avery Kerrick
Carley DeFord
Middletown High School
McKenna Vest
Milford Senior High School
Jorja Willey
Keyla Natareno
Aspen Balas
Colin O'Connor
Mason Foxwell
Victoria Wilson
Matthew Sacks
Tyler Smith
McKean High School
Connor Clinch
Smyrna High School
Alexis Hodge
Payton Eierman
Zoe Bowers
Emma Gonzon
Ally Holmes
Reaghan King
Ashlynn Barkley
Luke Michaud
Bailey Clark
Brandon Scuse
Orlan Kelley IV
Michael Kaminski
Delaware Farm Bureau President Richard Wilkins presented FFA blue jackets to students during last year's Delaware FFA state convention. This year's presentations will be made in a virtual format.
Delaware Farm Bureau Foundation
The Delaware Farm Bureau Foundation held its 7th annual 5K Milk Run/Walk in November with net proceeds benefitting the foundation, Food Bank of Delaware and Ministry of Caring.
To the left, from left to right:Chad Robinson of the Food Bank of Delaware, DEFB Sussex County President Steve Breeding, Foundation Coordinator Kali Voshell, Foundation Board Member Jackie King, DEFB 1st Vice President Laura Hill and DEFB President and Foundation Chair Richard Wilkins.
Below, from left to right: Voshell, DEFB New Castle County President Stewart Ramsey, Ministry of Caring Deputy Director of Development Priscilla Rakestraw, DEFB Executive Director Joseph Poppiti and Ministry of Caring Program Director for the three Emmanuel Dining Rooms ReeNee LaFate.
Women's, Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee Scholarship applications accepted through May
The Delaware Farm Bureau is searching for its next scholarship recipients.
Last year, 13 students were awarded with scholarships totaling more than $13,000 to aid in their future college endeavors. These awards come from each of the county Farm Bureaus, the state and county Women’s Committees and the Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee.
To be eligible for a scholarship through the Women’s Committees, students or their parents must have been members for at least one year and keep their membership active. Students must also be a full-time student either in college or high school in their senior year. Winners cannot be previous scholarship winners of the Women’s Committee.
of the county-based awards can apply for the Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee scholarship. Applications must be typed and submitted by Friday, May 7. They can be found on the DEFB Website at https://defb.org/scholarships/.
To be eligible for a scholarship through the Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee, students or their adjacent family (including parents and grandparents) must have been members for at least one year. Students must be a full-time college student. Winners cannot be previous scholarship winners
of the scholarship from the Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee; however, applicants who have previously won scholarships from the DEFB Women’s Committee or any
The DEFB also recognizes one student each year as the DEFB Ambassador. Each of the three counties accept applications for this role. Winners then compete for the state title. This opportunity is available to high school juniors or seniors who are DEFB members or children of members with an active membership for more than one year.
The ambassador receives opportunities throughout the year to support the DEFB with marketing, events and other needs to give them unique experiences in the world of agriculture. The term for all ambassadors will run from August 1 – July 31. More information will be available on the DEFB website soon.
Nationwide opens eighth annual safety contest to prevent grain entrapments
Though the hazards of entering a grain bin are well-known, farmers and agricultural professionals often underestimate them until it’s too late. It only takes seconds, or a simple mistake, for an adult to sink in the quicksand-like flow of grain and become fully entrapped or engulfed. Such accidents have resulted in a 62% fatality rate over the past 50 years according to Purdue University.
To raise awareness of these dangers and prevent all-too-common accidents, Nationwide has opened
its eighth annual Nominate Your Fire Department Contest in recognition of Grain Bin Safety Week. The goal is to deliver critical education and resources to agricultural professionals and promote safe bin-entry procedures (PDF) when entry is absolutely necessary. The program also awards life-saving rescue equipment and training to rural fire departments, who are
often the first and only line of defense when an entrapment occurs.
Nominations for this year’s Nominate Your Fire Department Contest are open until April 30.
"Working in one of America’s most dangerous industries, most farmers and agricultural professionals have likely heard tragic stories of accidents resulting from grain entrapments,” said Brad Liggett, president of Agribusiness at Nationwide, the country’s no. 1 farm and ranch insurer.1 “These incidents send shock waves through rural communities when they occur and continue to present a significant industry issue, as thousands of farmers and commercial grain handlers are exposed each year to the life-threatening hazards associated with entering grain structures to remove rotted or clumped grain.”
This year, Grain Bin Safety Week runs from Feb. 21 – 27 and has been officially recognized by the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Since initiating its Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign in
2014, Nationwide has supplied grain rescue tubes and training to 152 fire departments in 29 states.2
“Nationwide's mission of protecting people, businesses and futures with extraordinary care directly aligns with our Grain Bin Safety advocacy program,” said Liggett. “Now more than ever, farmers are being recognized for the important role they play in food security and fueling our country. We are proud of our ability to provide grain rescue tubes and proper training to help protect the men and women who feed the world, and we aspire to make sure every fire department that needs it has access to these safety resources.”
At least four fire departments included in the program have utilized their tubes and training to rescue workers trapped in grain bins. In 2017, the Glenville Fire Department in Minnesota received a call to assist a local farmer who had fallen into a grain silo. Equipped with the grain rescue tube and
JUMP TO CONTEST PAGE 15
Meet Your Farmer: Samantha Kirk Harrington
By Jennifer Antonik
Eigth generation farmer Samantha Kirk Harrington is excited to carry on the family legacy. Volunteering with the Delaware Farm Bureau is just as natural for the Laurel resident.
"I’m excited to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps and be involved in Delaware Farm Bureau," she said. "My grandfather's always been involved in all kinds of stuff. With Pop Pop, you bring up his name and everybody knows him. I just kind of think it's a good thing to be a part of it."
Harrington joined the 4-H at a young six years of age. By the time she was a teenager, she was showing livestock with the group.
In 2009, the Kirk family became the Sussex County Farm Bureau Family of the Year and went on to win the state title, as well.
With a strong family legacy behind her, Harrington earned a county-based scholarship from the Delaware Farm Bureau in 2013 and volunteered as the DEFB Ambassador for several years.
"For that, I helped out in the commodities building at the Delaware State Fair. I helped with the games," she said of her time as the ambassador. "The second and third year I was the ambassador, I worked with the ag lab. After that, I always just volunteered in the commodities building because it's important. Pop Pop was always a state board member, so I thought it was a good thing to get involved."
The scholarship benefited Har-
rington in the long run - she graduated from Delaware Tech with an associate degree in Agribusiness Management and Wilmington University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management.
Harrington, now 25, and her husband Trey, 23, married about a year ago and live in Laurel near a part of her family's legacy - Long-
branch Farms. The Kirk family also operates Kirk Farms in northern Delaware.
From Sussex County, she helps grow and sell more than 3,000 mums each year. Mums and pumpkins are handled in the fall followed by trees, wreaths and cemetary pieces in the winter and craft items and floral arrange-
ments thoughtout the year. She also helps out in the chicken house daily and in the grain farming side, which includes corn, wheat, soybeans and peas among other crops, at Longbranch Farms. Of the 14 chicken houses owned by the family, the Harrington's take care of four along with her father.
"My husband, Trey, and I do a little bit of hay farming and plan to expand my boer goat operation this summer," she added. "I also help out and do a little paperwork and help Mom Mom and Pop Pop solve their technical difficulties."
In her spare time, which isn't much, she joked, she and her husband have been fixing up their new house - his childhood home with four goats to keep them company.
Harrington has continued creating a name for herself in the Delaware Farm Bureau as an active member of the Promotions and Educations Committee.
This past year, she helped organize a social media tribute to farm moms and the annual photo contest.
"A lot of people don’t realize that anything they do in life always in some aspect goes back to ag. From the clothes you wear to the things you buy at the store, a farmer was at the beginning of that," she said. "I just think it's really important to support that. I'm happy to do it."
To find out how you can get involved, visit the Delaware Farm Bureau online at www.defb.org.
Books are donated to elementary schools in Delaware through the Book Barn program. Contact Mikayla Paul for more information at 302-697-3183.
Samantha Kirk Harrington and her husband Trey live in Laurel in his childhood home and near her family's farm where they both work.
Agricultural accurate books, barns still available for public elementary schools in Delaware
By Jennifer Antonik
Agricultural accurate books have made their way into some more than 60 elementary schools in Delaware.
Afforded to students in the First State through a USDA grant made available to the Delaware Farm Bureau, the program has stocked the schools with handcrafted book barns and agricultural accurate books since 2015.
The barns were crafted by New Castle County Farmer Jimmy Correll, Smyrna FFA members and Gene Hartnett.
Initiatives like these highlight “. . . the relationship between agriculture and the environment, food, fiber and energy, animals, lifestyle, the economy and technology,” according to the American Farm Bureau Foundation’s website.
Book barns can be dropped off or delivered with an in-person or virtual presentation.
Delaware schools interested in a book barn can contacted the Delaware Farm Bureau office at 302697-3183.
Appoquinimink
Brick Mill
Old State
Silver Lake
Brandywine
Claymont
Forwood
Caesar Rodney
Allen Frear
Nellie Stokes
Star Hill
W.B. Simpson
Reily Brown
Cape Henlopen
H.O. Brittingham
Love Creek
Milton
Rehoboth
Shields (Richard A.)
Delaware schools with Book Barns
Capital East Dover
Fairview
North Dover
South Dover
Towne Point
Christina Bancroft
The Bayard School
Downes (John R.)
Jones (Albert H.)
McVey (Joseph M.)
Oberle (William)
Smith (Jennie E.)
Stubs (Frederick Douglass)
Colonial Castle Hills
Eisenberg (Harry O.)
Pleasantville
Southern Wilbur (Kathleen H.)
Wilmington Manor
Indian River
Georgetown
Lord Baltimore
North Georgetown
Showell (Phillip C.)
Lake Forest
Lake Forest East
Lake Forest North
Milford
Banneker (Benjamin)
Mispillion
Morris Early Childhood Center
Ross (Lulu M.)
Red Clay
Baltz (Austin D.)
Forest Oak
Linden Hill
William F. Cooke Jr.
Seaford
Frederick Douglass
Seaford Central
West Seaford
Smryna
Clayton North Smyrna
Smyrna
Sunnyside
Woodbridge
Phillis Wheatley
Charter/Private
Gateway Lab School
Newark Charter
Providence Creek
Academy Charter School
Holy Cross
Albert Einstein
Academy Hockessin Montessori
The Delaware Farm Bureau Promotion and Education Committee donated $850 to three organizations, one in each county, this year to help them prepare for colder weather.
In the January/February issue of the Delaware Farm Bureau News, donations of $850 each to Our Daily Bread in New Castle County and People's Place II in Kent County were highlighted.
To the right: Donna King offers an $850 donation from the committee to K.C. Conaway of the Good Ole Boys Foundation in Sussex County.
P & E Committee helps charities
You value keeping the legacy of your farm. We value helping farmers like you. When you’re ready to discuss your options, contact our team.
Virtual Safety Conference planned for mid-March
By Jennifer Antonik
The Delaware Farm Bureau will hold its fourth annual Ag Safety Conference virtually Wednesday, March 17.
After postponing the event last year, eventually cancelling it altogether due to the pandemic, Ag Safety Conference Chair June Unruh said the P&E Committee is excited to bring the conference back to benefit farmers and consumers in the first state.
"I don't know of anyone else having these kinds of safety conferences. I think it’s very crucial that we keep up with this. Somebody has to. We have to look after each other," she said.
Traditionally, the conference has included giveaways for participants and doubled as a chance for attendees to learn about safe practices around the farm and to fellowship with others. Unruh said the opportunity to gather and enjoy each other's company was a highlight many missed last year.
"The safety conference started after our initiative with the rural road safety. We discussed it and there hadn't been a safety conference for a while in the state so we decided to take that on," Unruh said. "We felt it was very important for the farmers for them to have a chance to get together and to review safety information."
The Ag Safety Conference hosted by the Delaware Farm Bureau, she added, is a one-stop shop for this crucial information and includes a pesticide certification opportunity.
"We want to let the farmers know and the public know how important the safety topic is to the Delaware Farm Bureau," Unruh said. "And
we can do that even in a virtual format. If you didn't have Zoom as a word in your vocabulary before this, you sure do now. Our annual mneeting was done virtually and the Farm Bureau staff did an excellent job. We know they'll do the same with our Ag Safety Conference."
This year’s event will again include pesticide certification, as well as a presentation on grain bin/ confined space safety from Nationwide. There will also be a presentation on Right to Repair/Safety of Repair by Atlantic Tractor with a Question-and-Answer session with ag equipment manufacturers. Anyone interested in attending should register online at defb.org.
AGENDA
Delaware Ag Safety Conference
Wednesday, March 17
9 a.m.: Welcome by Ag Safety Conference Chair June Unruh, introduction of Delaware Department of Agriculture Michael Scuse.
9:15 a.m.: Grain Bin Safety/Confined Space Entry Presentation led by Matt Ludwig of Nationwide.
10:15 a.m.: Right to Repair/Safety of Repair Presentation by Atlantic Tractor, a John Deere Dealer
11 a.m.: Break (15 min)
11:15 a.m.: Pesticides 101, The What’s and Why’s of the Label presentation by Dr. Kerry Richards, Pesticide Educator at the University of Delaware Extensions. 1 pesticide credit awarded
12:15 p.m.: Closing remarks by Delaware Farm Bureau President Richard Wilkins
The event will conclude with the drawing of door prizes for participants still in attendance.
Carney offers proclamation for Grain Bin Safety Week
American Farm Bureau Federation establishes 2021 policies
Farmer and rancher delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 102nd Annual Convention today adopted policies to guide the organization’s work in 2021. Key topics ranged from farm diversity to farm labor and dairy policy to livestock marketing. For the first time in AFBF history, delegates met and voted virtually due to COVID-19.
“Our Farm Bureau delegates showed that no challenge, not even a pandemic, will keep them from working to improve the lives of America’s farmers and ranchers,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall.
“Their work not only sets policy for 2021, it will also serve as a guide for AFBF as we prepare to work with a new president and a new Congress to ensure we continue to lead the world in producing healthy and safe food, fiber and fuel.”
Recognizing the importance of broadening access to agriculture, delegates voted to encourage increased racial diversity in farming. This new policy calls for increased funding for USDA programs that make inheriting farms easier and increases funding to promote diverse farmland ownership.
Delegates updated labor policy, emphasizing the importance of reforming the H-2A program by expanding the program to provide visa workers for both seasonal and yearround employment. An expanded program would address workforce shortages and extend the program to operations that do not currently qualify to employ guest workers, like dairy farms.
The Holcomb plant fire and the COVID-19 pandemic caused meat prices to skyrocket while the price paid to farmers dropped. AFBF delegates voted to provide stability in markets by supporting efforts to increase negotiated sales in fed cattle markets. Delegates also called for increased transparency in livestock pricing.
Milk price volatility was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in financial damages to dairy farmers in excess of $2.5 billion. Delegates updated dairy policy to call for re-examining the 2018 farm bill’s modification to the milk price formula, improving equity in USDA’s Federal Milk Marketing Order revenue sharing pools, and reaffirmed their support for allowing dairy farmers the opportunity to cast an individual and confidential ballot during milk order referen-
dums.
There are new policies on crop insurance. Delegates called on the Risk Management Agency to improve hurricane protection coverage, including but not limited to, providing protection against both hurricane-force winds and excessive precipitation. Delegates also supported modifying specialty crop insurance to minimize food waste.
Beyond policy changes, delegates also elected members to serve on the AFBF board of directors and national program committees.
Fourteen state Farm Bureau presidents were re-elected to two-year terms to represent their regions on the AFBF board of directors and five were elected to the board for the first time.
Midwest Region
Richard Felts, Kansas
Rich Guebert Jr., Illinois
Craig Hill, Iowa
Kevin Krentz,* Wisconsin
Randy Kron, Indiana
Mark McHargue,* Nebraska
Kevin Paap, Minnesota
Northeast Region
David Fisher, New York
Joseph Tisbert,* Vermont
Southern Region
Jeff Aiken, Tennessee
Russell Boening, Texas
Shawn Harding, North Carolina
Jim Harper, Louisiana
Tom McCall,* Georgia
Mike McCormick, Mississippi
Rodd Moesel, Oklahoma
Western Region
Todd Fornstrom, Wyoming
Jamie Johansson,* California
Stefanie Smallhouse, Arizona
*Denotes state Farm Bureau president elected to the board for the first time.
National Program Committees
Jon Iverson of Oregon was elected as the new chair of the AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee for a one-year term beginning in March. He will also serve a one-year term on the AFBF board of directors. Jocelyn Anderson of California was elected vice chair and April Castle of Kansas was elected secretary. They will each serve one-year terms.
Reelected to two-year terms on the AFB Women’s Leadership
Committee were Isabella Chism of Indiana, Marieta Hauser of Kansas and Lorenda Overman of North Carolina. Chism was elected chair and will serve on the AFBF board of directors; Overman was elected vice chair. Lou Nave of Tennessee, Lisa Wherry of Pennsylvania and Shawn Wood of Arizona were elected to two-year terms.
Stacey Lauwers of Michigan was elected chair of AFBF’s Promotion & Education Committee; Andrea Brossard of Wisconsin was elected vice chair. Both will serve two-year terms beginning in March.
AFBF thanks the more than 50
speakers and 8,200 attendees who helped make the 2021 Virtual Convention such a success. Registered attendees may view workshops and sessions on-demand on the convention website for the next 90 days. For those who did not attend the convention, select sessions and workshops can be found on the AFBF webpage.
Planning for the American Farm Bureau’s 2022 Annual Convention and Trade Show has already begun. Mark your calendar to meet us January 7-12, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Raffle items sent to Tennessee
Congratulations to Scott, from Tennessee Farm Bureau, for winning the Delaware Farm Bureau swag bag during the AFBF 102nd Virtual Annual Convention.
Hello Delaware Farmers,
A letter to Delaware farmers from NASS
The past 11 months have brought into sharper focus why agricultural data are so important. When agricultural stakeholders, local and federal decision-makers, and other data users evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic affected our farmers and the agricultural industry, they will continue to look to NASS data for their analyses. It remains critical that producers respond to NASS surveys so that all data are included and represent an accurate picture of local and national agriculture.
Throughout the year, NASS will mail several agricultural surveys. To protect the health of producers, partners, and employees, NASS continues to suspend in-person data collection and encourage online, phone, or mail response. The information collected from these surveys will be used to determine crop and livestock productivity as well as the
economic well-being of the agricultural community. Policy makers, Extension, agribusinesses, and farmers must have accurate information to make informed, data driven decisions.
All information submitted to NASS is confidential, only used for statistical purposes, and published in aggregate form, as required by federal law, so that no individual or farm can be identified.
For the latest NASS survey information, visit nass.usda.gov and stay connected with us on Twitter @usda_nass. For questions or assistance with a survey, contact Shareefah Williams, Delaware State Statistician via email at Shareefah.Williams@usda.gov or call at 301-347-8179.
Thank you for your time and support of U.S. agriculture.
Signed,
Shareefah Williams, Delaware and Maryland State Statistician
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
training provided to the department nearly two years earlier, first responders were able to save the man’s life even though he’d been engulfed up to his face in flowing corn.
Injuries & Fatalities: The Startling Facts
• Suffocation from engulfment or oxygen-deficient atmospheres is the leading cause of death in grain accidents.
• In four seconds, an adult can sink knee-deep in flowing grain and be rendered unable to free themselves without help.
• Nearly 400 grain entrapments have been recorded in the past 10 years. It’s estimated an additional 30% of cases go unreported.
• In 2019, there were 38 grain entrapment cases – a 27% increase over 2018 and a fouryear high.
• Grain entrapment deaths spiked in late 2019 and early 2020 as a result of wet harvest conditions – a United Press International report showed there were 19 deaths from August 2019 to mid-January 2020 alone, more than all of 2018.
• Historically, 70% of grain entrapments have occurred on farms vs. commercial facilities.
• Many of these farming accidents involve young people who often lack a good understanding of the potential dangers and proper safety procedures.
Sources: 2019 Summary of U.S. Agricultural Confined Space-Related Injuries and Fatalities and United Press International
To help prevent further deaths and injuries, Nationwide collaborates each year with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) to provide safety training. NECAS instructors travel to training locations with state-ofthe-art grain entrapment simulators and rescue tubes. The comprehensive training sessions include classroom education and rescue simulations using the entrapment
tools, which are loaded onto 20foot trailers and able to hold about 100 bushels of grain each.
Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety
Week and Nominate Your Fire Department Contest are supported by the following partners:
NECAS
KC Supply
Specialty Risk Management
Lutz Agency, Inc.
ProValue Insurance
Valley Insurance Agency Alliance
CHS
Graham Insurance Agency
Rugby Insurance Agency
The Harry A. Koch Co.
New York Farm Bureau®
Ohio Farm Bureau®
Maryland Farm Bureau®
Delaware Farm Bureau®
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau®
Scoular
GROWMARK
West Side Salvage
Gregerson Salvage, Inc.
ABIS
Mealiff Insurance & Financial
Services
Eclipse Insurance Agency
Beacon Insurance Group
Ohio Corn & Wheat
Gallagher
Sump Saver
First Gabrielson Agency
NOHR Wortmann Engineering
For more information about the program, purpose or nomination process, visit www.grainbinsafetyweek.com.
About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio,
is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus,
specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
1 A.M. Best Market Share Report 2019
2 Nationwide announced 41 grain rescue tube and training recipients as part of the 2020 campaign. Due to challenges associated with COVID-19, some deliveries and trainings have yet to occur and will take place in 2021.
All cash contributions help purchase grain bin tubes and/or training. All donations are managed through the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), a 501(c)(3) non-profit. For official rules, visit nationwide.com/GBSWContestRules
“FARM BUREAU” and the Farm Bureau mark are registered service marks of the American Farm Bureau Federation and used under license by Nationwide. Nationwide, Nationwide is on your side and the Nationwide N and Eagle are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. © 2021 Nationwide
