LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A pair of agricultural health professionals realize farmers are busy around the clock, checking their equipment and crops. Now, they say, it’s time for these same producers to stop and take time to check into their OWN equipment – their bodies.

Dr. Cheryl Witt, extension specialist senior ag nurse, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, and Dale Dobson, Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s (KDA) Farm and Home Safety Program coordinator, will be on hand at this year’s National Farm Machinery Show (NFMS). Together they will stress the importance of a farmer’s on-farm safety, physical health and mental health.

Witt said the services at her display include glucose, blood pressure, carotid artery stenosis, hearing and skin cancer checks. In addition, farmers can receive COVID-19, RSV and shingles vaccinations.

“These health services help farmers and agricultural producers remain at their physical best,” Witt said.

Witt said her work to address this is personal. Witt is a sixth-generation farmer and nurse. She hopes the outcome of her work will help the non-farming community be more informed about what farmers do and deal with on a day-to-day basis. She also wants to help the healthcare community better understand the culture of farming to better relate to the farmer when providing care.

“Farmers everywhere are too busy tending to their crops, their grain, their equipment to take care of themselves,” Witt said. “In many cases we’ve noticed farmers are afraid to see a doctor, so here we’re able to bring the services to them. We’ve had quite a bit of success with this, too. So far, we’ve saved about 10 lives, whether it was by health screening or mental health education that we provide. The 10 lives saved tells me we’re making a difference.

“Farming is not just an occupation, but a way of life. The land, crops, livestock, family and facilities are all a part of the farmer’s soul. The attachment to these puts tremendous pressure on the farmer to maintain and be fiscally and physically responsible for all, because this is a part of their identity.”

Witt has received recognition for the work she is doing to bring attention to the mental health crisis among farmers in Kentucky. According to research, farming and agricultural workers have among the highest reported rates of suicide across occupational groups.

Dobson has been a strong proponent of farm safety and has appeared at the NFMS the past 25 years.

“It’s all about safety, health and mental health,” Dobson said. “You have to be thinking right to be safe, you have to be safe to be healthy, and you have to be healthy to be thinking right. It takes all three because if you’re working with heavy equipment you’re going to get into trouble.”

“We’ve been teaching farm safety for years. Before we started spreading this safety message, we were averaging 50 fatalities a year, but since the spread of our safety messages we’re now down to 12 deaths per year. That’s still too high, though.”

Dobson pointed out that within the last year, at least eight people are alive today thanks to his program. This past year, five men were saved from being smothered by grain inside silos by Kentucky first responders using Turtle Tube grain bin rescue sleeves. Three others, including one firefighter, were considering suicide before Dobson used the QPR (question, persuade and refer) techniques that he helps teach.

“Before COVID, I was doing about 115 program per year in front of about a million people,” Dobson said. “It used to be nothing to drive 1,000 miles per week.”

Now, Dobson’s two KDA trucks average more than 50,000 miles per year. He has taught farm safety in 18 states, including Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Illinois.

KDA’s Rollover Tractor Simulator will be on display at the NFMS. It continues to be the only one of its kind in the nation. Push a button and a John Deere 4105 compact tractor bolted to a trailer turns over with a dummy in the seat. The fate of the dummy demonstrates the need for a rollover protective structure.

“I’ll teach people how to avoid tractor rollovers and how to treat your injuries on the spot,” Dobson said. “I plan on discussing ways to prevent farm accidents and especially grain safety and rescue. The biggest thing going on right now, though, is suicide prevention. And that’s everyone – young, old, farmers, city workers – everyone’s in a rush and people don’t feel appreciated anymore.”

The two will offer free health screenings as well as ways to prevent accidents on the farm at this year’s show. Their booth can be found in the lobby of the West Hall.

“Attendees to the NFMS need to get a 10-minute checkup and we’ll send you on your way,” Dobson said.