By STARR MILLER

Indiana Correspondent

NEW CASTLE, Ind. — According to researchers at Purdue University, more than 900 cases of grain engulfment have been reported in the past five decades. Within that statistic is an even more unsettling fact: 62 percent have resulted in fatality.

It’s an issue that Ron Huffman, director of the Henry County Office of Emergency Management, is meeting head-on. His ambition to build a state-of-the-art grain bin safety center is matched by his focus to ensure the next generations of farmers – and those who respond to rescue them in times of trouble – are safer than those before them.

“When I became a firefighter 30 years ago, we started to look into the options for firefighters to train in our county and honestly, the roadblocks always came down to location and funding,” he said. “Now we have a location, and we certainly have had generous donations towards our overall funding.

“I am very hopeful that this training facility be built. When we get this thing finished, it will be a premier rescue area on this side of the country.”

The story really begins in 2008-09, when the state gave each district in Indiana $100,000 for construction of training centers. Because District 6 is so large, the funding was split into four, and that equation left less for each specific center. Huffman – who says he is always looking to train better – started to formulate the idea of building something of an ag-related rescue training venue early on, but knew money would be an obstacle.

That’s when a quick stop at a friend and fellow farmer’s place set the plan into motion. With a small grain bin as his first donation, Huffman said it sat on the property obtained by the district money for one year.

“I just started looking for donations,” he said. “I called Harvest Land Co-op, and we kind of put our heads together. It turns out, we had similar projects in the works but coming from two different directions. We had property, and they had money.”

The partnership was made – Harvest Land recently gifted the project $10,000 – and the design plans were drawn. “We started building just as soon as we had the design,” Huffman said. “Now, we have concrete pads down – we have a two grain-bin set.”

But the project is far from completion and, according to Huffman, may never truly be “complete.”

“I really believe training centers are never finished. There is always something new to learn, something to be educated about … especially when it comes to saving lives.”

The project recently received a $5,000 donation from Pioneer in Henry County; in addition to the two grain bins, the current design calls for a 24-foot grain bin and overall funding to finish this leg of the project.

“When we get the grain area done, we may do tractors and augers, and practice on trapped equipment,” Huffman explained. “But everything costs money, and that is the focus right now – to seek out donations and funding sources so we can keep building the different training areas.”

Harvest Land Co-op stated it will give $15,000 as match money to donations for the project.

Considering agriculture is one of the oldest forms of labor, it’s odd that more of these training facilities do not exist. Huffman has an analogy he uses when he is fundraising.

“I use the example of me being a child. I’m in my sixties, so when I got in a car as a child, we would ride in the back window. No seat – no seatbelt of any kind. And it was totally normal. My grandkids now? They get in the car and the very first thing is put on the seatbelt. No questions asked.

“So, my point is, something we used to do that seemed normal, now not so much. Maybe some farming practices, some things past generations haven’t really given much thought … we can teach this new generation of farmers new safety practices. New ways – obviously even safe ways – to work in ag-related industries.”

Overall, the idea is to be proactive.

“I am an emergency responder, so I get it. I know that we are reactive to situations. And of course, that is what we are trained to do,” Huffman said. “But I think about these kids coming up, even all of the hundreds of kids who came to celebrate National FFA Week. What if we bused those kids to our training facility and for an afternoon they could see for themselves what to do, and what not do?

“Teach them how to keep yourself and your buddy from getting hurt, or worse, dying. Teach them how to work safely in a grain bin. Teach them how augers work. How sweeps work … Then maybe we save a life later on.”

Huffman’s idea is now coming to fruition, but funding is still needed. It’s a goal he takes to task. “We are so happy to receive any amount of donation to our cause. Sometimes we forget that a lot of little donations make a big one. I just feel very passionate about this cause.

“If we start now, these kids we are teaching not to have bad habits … maybe when they are 60, the thought of their grandkids doing this or that unsafe practice will be in left field. And again, we save a life. Or lives,” he pointed out.

If you’d like to make a donation to the Henry County Grain Bin Safety Center, you can call Huffman at 765-524-4848.