2020: More kids on the farm than any time in modern ag history

Shay: And it all comes down to this. Two on, two out, bottom of the ninth. The Farmers lead by one.

Chris: Full count.

Shay: Here comes the play at the plate, and it's the Ag View Pitch!

Chris: Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ag View Pitch, and today we're going to have a conversation about a topic that's critically important, I think, right now with everything that's going on in the environment with the COVID-19. As farmers, a lot of things have changed on the farm. We've got a lot more little people and young folks around the farm, and so we've got Chris Barron and Shay Foulk here today. How's it going, Shea?

Shay: Hey, it's going pretty good tonight, Chris. Yeah, I think that's a great point here, you know, to, to put it in a little bit of perspective of what this actually looks like on a national and a global scale. I got to thinking today, you know, there's, there's more kids around than there has ever been in modern history of production agriculture. And it's a, it's a huge concept, a big anomaly deviation from something that we're used to at all. That doesn't count skipping school or using your full amount of sick days, you know, that a lot of farm kids have done in the past. There are literally, you know, millions of extra kids around the farm and I think it's something that so far we just haven't taken a lot of time to address. And so hopefully, you know, a little bit of a conversation here will help facilitate some of that tonight.

Chris: Yeah, I think one of the things that sparked this, um, from my perspective was, you know, we've got a few employees in our own operation here and, um, all of a sudden, you know, school's canceled and we have a bunch of little critters running around the farm. At various ages from say, you know, 10, 12 years old all the way up to, you know, senior, junior in high school. And it's good, I guess, but from the same token, you know, we're not used to having these young folks around the operation and we really got to ask ourselves, number one, is it okay if they're there? And number two, have we really talked to them about safety and are they getting into things that they shouldn't be getting into? Are we asking them to do things maybe they shouldn't be doing? And what's all that look like?

So do you want to kind of touch on some of the, some of the things that we might want to be thinking about as there's more young people around the farm now than what we're used to, especially during this, this time?

Shay: I think you hit on one of the key things there, Chris, and that's just if you can avoid having the kids on the farm if possible. That's, you know, the primary, the primary goal, just because we want to keep them as far out of harm's way as possible. Now, with daycares being closed or limited to who they can accept, people having kids around home because they're not at school, we understand obviously that that's a stark reality for a lot of farm operations out there to where they may need to be around the farm operation. So, you know, first I would just look at how can you keep the kids busy or occupied in something other than, you know, hazardous conditions or hazardous areas.

You know, there's a lot of things kids from, you know, 6, 7 years old on up enjoy pushing a broom around, you know, just doing something simple where they're being helpful and doing something that they enjoy for, you know, 30 or 45 minutes to keep them busy and then kind of move on to the next thing. Looking at some of those things that if you can keep them away from the farm if possible, start with that option and then look at some of the less hazardous alternatives if possible.

And you know, I, I think some of that leads into the field operations themselves of if the kids don't need to be out there during that field operation, it's more important that they stay somewhere that is much safer because when you think about all that's going on with, tillage equipment in the spring, you know, you're in and out if you get plugged up in the corn stalks or whatever, you break a shank on a, on a piece of equipment, you need to go fix that, you're in and out of the cab. There's just a lot going on, a lot of moving pieces. And, and not to mention, you know, when you get into things like anhydrous ammonia, those are just not environments where kids should be at all. And so, you know, keeping them away from the equipment, keeping them away from that field operations, I think, Chris, is, you know, some of the first areas that we need to look at there.

Chris: Yeah. And to kind of back up a little bit too, you know, there's really two situations or two types of environments. You know, one is, you know, maybe you're a sole proprietor or you're a fam— you're purely a family operation and, and the kids that are there, you know, or maybe your own kids. And, you know, maybe they've been around and stuff, but it is a little different when they're here every day and when they're here getting into the springtime when things are real busy and into the early summer and that kind of thing. And then the other situation or the other environment is maybe you employ some people and they're the ones bringing, you know, maybe their kids to the farm. And is that okay? What are your protocols? What are the rules? And, you know, what's that really look like? What are they allowed to do? What are they not allowed to do?

And maybe more importantly, if something were to happen to one of the kids, if there was an accident or something, what does that mean then? You know, what's that involve? Can you talk a little bit about that?

Shay: Yeah, I mean, just having those clear expectations up front. Upfront with the family and with the farm team. So to get ahead of this before, you know, things get real busy or stuff starts happening on the farm where kids are going to be around, take a time, take some time to have a meeting with your farm team and with your family. Sit down and talk through, you know, this unique time that we're going through, how we can best handle having the kids on the farm operation. And, you know, like you said, what, what does that actually look like? Do they need to be in the office area, or are they allowed out where, you know, the tractors and the semis and everything else are rolling through the barnyard? You know, what are those areas that are off limits?

And so not only having the discussion from a leadership and a team standpoint, but then ensuring that you're communicating that with the kids that are going to be on the operation. I think it's so important to you know, do a physical walkthrough and say, okay, you know, these are the areas that we definitely don't want you to be this time of year. It's not necessarily that we don't trust you, you know, because you mentioned earlier, these age ranges are huge. You know, you have anywhere from 3 years old to 17 years old, and the 3-year-old might be, you know, running around in the office, and the 17-year-old might be out learning how to operate the sprayer or, you know, operating the sprayer. And right, wrong, or different, you know, when it comes to safety, I'm a big advocate of, you know, practical application.

And it's not that we, you know, say that you absolutely shouldn't be doing, you know, one thing or the other. We understand there's incidents where you're going to send out, you know, kids to help with tillage or to move the gator down the waterway to pick up rocks or whatever it may be. But it's having that conversation with the farm team and then with the kids themselves so they understand that one, safety should be the priority, and two, that if they have any questions along the way, they need to feel comfortable to be able to ask those questions and to know that there's someone that they can turn to when they have those questions. So I think just addressing these issues up front is, is so important to this, this conversation, Chris.

Chris: Yeah, one thing I would say too, as a parent Every kid is so different, and age appropriate for one kid might be, you know, 14 years old, and for the next kid it might be 17, you know. So every kid is different. Every kid's attention span, their interests, what they're good at, what they want to do, what they don't want to do, all varies a lot. And so it's really You know, like you've said, you know, have really good heart-to-heart conversations with the kids and make sure, you know, they not only understand the safety, but if they are helping around the farm, what are they comfortable doing? What are they not comfortable doing? And then, you know, are we, you know, if you think about it, are we asking too much of them or are we, you know, or are we dealing with things age appropriately? So I don't know, what's your thoughts on that?

Shay: Well, we should never be asking kids to do anything that they're uncomfortable with. And I don't mean that to sound like, oh, that's a modern-day parenting thing, you know, oh, it's okay, Timmy, you don't have to do this. You know, that's not the attitude that we're taking towards this. But truly, you know, I remember there were certain things as a kid that when I was growing up, there were certain large pieces of machinery or electrical or chemicals, things like that, that I just did not feel comfortable being around. And I voiced that and it was never an issue. But we need to understand that, you know, kids today are still kids. Just because they learn different ways and have different levels of sophistication and maturity doesn't mean that they need to take that on if they feel uncomfortable with that.

And one thing that I think all generations are guilty of, or all the older generations are guilty of, is we say, oh well, you know, when I was 6 years old, I was, uh, running a skid loader with blocks strapped to my feet and okay, well, that's fine, you know, and that's just, it was more common in that time and maybe safety wasn't something that was addressed as much. But we need to understand that with today's machinery and equipment built in with some of the safety measures, you know, something as simple as a lawnmower, you have to be, you know, 70 or 80 pounds, whatever it is. Well, those systems were designed because they're not meant for kids to be running that machine. And if that's something that the farm operation has been guilty of in the past, it doesn't mean you should continue to do something that you know is wrong. You know, fix it, find a way around it.

Someone else can do that operation. We can teach someone else how to do this if, you know, the kid feels uncomfortable with it. Or maybe we need to evaluate if we should even be asking them to do it at all, you know. So moving away from— if kids are uncomfortable with doing something, don't ask them to do it if it's a safety concern.

Chris: Good points. One other thing I wanted to touch on, again back to the farm operation with employees that have young people at the farm, probably in a lot of cases actually hiring some young people, maybe 16, 14 to 16 or something like that in those age ranges, it's something that I think we need to be really cautious and conscientious of. Are we communicating with their parents? Do their parents know what they're doing? And even to the point where a liability release form being signed by the parents so that there's clear communication of Who's doing what, and just make sure that everybody understands that in your operation, in your farm operation, you take safety seriously. And it's something that the insurance companies look at real close too. You know, it's really hard to back you up if you're trying to hide anything.

You know, you really want to be upfront and open and make sure that what you're doing and who you're hiring, you know, back to the age-appropriate thing.

Shay: There's, there's just a huge amount of liability and risk in agriculture in general today. And when you throw in kids into that mixture, it can definitely get really complicated really fast. But you brought up a good point, you know, talk closely with your insurance company, look at other resources that are available out there online. And like you said, maybe it's something that you encourage, a liability release form for kids and the parents to sign if they are going to be doing field work. Or maybe that's something that you just want to have with your team in general so that there's, you know, those clear expectations and a clear understanding of this is what is acceptable behavior. This is things that, you know, we are, we're comfortable with the children doing on the farm.

And guess what, as an employer, you know, as a farm operation, whether as a family or run truly as a, you know, how people would perceive it more as a business. And today that business and that farming operation has every right to say, no, this is not allowed in our operation. And there should be no two ways about it and no question when it comes to that, because the rules are put in place in order to primarily protect the kids and look out for their safety. But also to protect the farm with the liability and the risk that is associated with that. So I don't think there should be any question on that. And, you know, when it comes to the next steps of that, well, you need to ensure that not only do you have the liability release form, but that you're properly training the kids on the farm operations. You know, it's, it's not just saying, okay, well, we are free of this risk and liability.

No, you want to ensure that the kids actually understand the hazards and the risks and then how to negate those two in order to create the safest working environment possible. And, you know, if a child does get hurt, the primary goal of everybody in the operation should be to get them safe and to get them treated and then work through anything that might have went wrong later. It's so important to, you know, keep your head on straight if something like this does happen, because I think you and I both know that When kids get hurt, you know, everything seems to go out the window. You know, tempers flare, people start screaming and fighting with each other, and we need to focus on the fact that getting that kid to safety and getting the proper treatment is what is most important.

You know, and again, that goes back to just taking the necessary time to teach them the operations a safe way, have those clear expectations, and then, you know, evaluating does this individual child have the ability for these operations.

Chris: Yeah, and, and that's, you know, one thing on, on the liability side, and I keep going back to that, but, you know, if you think about a, you know, an equipment dealership or a co-op or something like that, you never see any kids running around there. You know, the employees are just not allowed to bring the kids. And so, you know, it's understandable if they're, they're, if they're your own kids, you can't sue yourself. You can't be, you know, but, but you're gonna, you're gonna watch your own kids. You're going to be there. But if an employee brings kids to work, you know, you got to ask yourself, you know, are you a business or are you a farm? And hopefully if you have employees, you recognize that you're a business. And sometimes, yes, we have to make some concessions and we have to do some things.

But the whole idea of this conversation is to make sure that we bring this to the forefront and make sure that everybody understands how critical it is. Because you can, you can have a very successful business and all it takes is, you know, one major accident and it really can change people's lives. When I was in 5th grade, I got to find out what a pallbearer was. I got a phone call. I saw my best friend get off the school bus and it was about 3 hours later I got a phone call that my best friend had been killed in a farm accident. The very next day I got a phone call asking if I would be a pallbearer and I said yes. And I asked my mom, "What's a pallbearer?" You know, those things are horrendous to go through.

And, you know, you wanna make sure that, you know, you don't look at this all from the negative side, but you gotta be realistic about the dangers that are there and make sure that the kids understand You know, you got to pay attention, and if you want to be here, maybe they can. And if they're— if it's mom and dad's farm and the kids are there, they're probably going to be there. But safety's got to be paramount.

Shay: Yes, and I, I'm so glad you hit on that because we definitely don't want this to be all doom and gloom. And we understand the realities of, of having kids, and it's, it's a great thing to be able to have children be involved with the farm operation and to grow up with that lifestyle. I think that's what attracts so many people to the line of work and to these jobs is they enjoy being able to be around family and have family involved in some of these things. But what we don't want to happen is at the end of the season and as we roll into summer and beyond this to look back and say, you know, we probably didn't do everything that we could have and God forbid that there's an accident. We don't want that on anybody's conscience to have to think through what could we have done differently.

And to lay this out and to put this in perspective for you, Chris, you know, the amount of time that it would take to take the kids in the farm operation or to take your kids as part of the family operation and just walk through some of these expectations, you could do it in less than an hour. You know, find— there's plenty of resources out there that talk about farm safety. You know, just today I put together a short video Not saying that it's, it's the best safety video out there, but it's just some things that, you know, you and I had been talking about on, hey, these are some key topics we think kids should be aware of, like protective gear and, you know, where not to go, where they're not allowed, what they shouldn't be touching, what they shouldn't be doing, what they should be asking for if they have questions.

You know, just going through and taking the time to watch a 15 or 20 minute video and then walk through the farm operation. Maybe it's an hour, maybe it's, it's 3 hours, but you know that the kids are going to remember that. And seeing that physically, you know, being on the farm operation and understanding why, and being able to ask questions in a non-stressful environment. You know, maybe you do that after everybody's away from work or off work for the day. You don't have tractors and semis and fork trucks and skid loaders and everything else rolling through. You just walk through and explain, hey, this is why you shouldn't be here. This is you know, something we don't want you to touch, and, and here's why, uh, might, might make it a little bit easier coming from mom or dad or grandma and grandpa or whoever else, uh, in that sort of environment versus a more hectic time.

Chris: Yeah, that's a great point because I think, you know, walking around the tractors and the planter and equipment and combines and all machinery You know, you point, you can point things out and actually look at stuff because it's one thing to sit in the office and talk about it. It's another thing to be out there and, you know, and with, with tractors now in today's world, you know, they're safe. I mean, you know, it's pretty often our kids go out and ride in the tractors and there's a buddy seat there. There's a seatbelt in it. And I remember riding on a 4020 on the fender with my dad. And it probably couldn't have been too much more dangerous than that, you know, but these tractors now, you know, it, the, they're very safe. They've got ROPS, you know, rollover protection and all kinds of, you know, duals and they're, they're heavy and they're secure and they're pretty darn safe.

So, you know, the kids, and like I said, you know, the kids do need to be out here learning and everything. We just want to emphasize. Let's do it in a safe manner. Right.

Shay: Well, and there's a lot of people out there that make the argument of, well, you know what, Dad, he stuck me up there on the fender of that 4020 and I turned out all right and I survived. Well, there's a lot of people that didn't, you know, and even if it's, whether it's 1 in a million or, you know, 3 in 100,000, whatever the statistics are, that's one person's child. It's too many. Right. And, you know, like I said, we just want to make sure that we're doing everything possible. And I would encourage, you know, anyone out there that has, has questions on this or wants to talk through this with us, we'd love to hear from you. We know how important this is and near and dear to us. And, you know, honestly, it, it scares me a little bit.

And I— again, this isn't doom and gloom, but it scares me to think about the possibility of, you know, losing a sibling or a child in an event like this. And I think just that little bit of fear, if that's what it takes to get you to do something like this, I have no issue consistently saying this message over and over until we get through to people to take the time to do this. And, you know, we'll come out on the other side of this thing just fine.

Chris: Yeah, and typically the Ag View Pitch is financial and business and everything, but there's, you know, no more important asset that we have on our farm than our kids. They're, they're the ones that are going to be taking the farm over and, and hopefully someday, and the ones that are going to be employing us so we can still be around and enjoy life. And, and that's why we do what we do, so. Again, that's, that's the whole purpose for doing this podcast is just to make sure that, you know, we take care of the most important asset we have on the farm and that's the kids. Any other thing else that we haven't talked about or anything else I didn't ask you about, Shay? You're kind of the resident expert in this, in this area and appreciate all you've done on the safety side of things.

Shay: Yeah, well, you know, I'm glad to be doing it. It's definitely something that, that I'm passionate about and I'll go ahead and link the video that I did here today in the podcast details. If you're listening to this, you should just be able to click on the link, pull it up, you know, watch it with your kids, send it on to someone that you think, maybe someone in your family that would find it useful or important. You know, 15 to 20 minutes to sit down and watch something like that. I think it's worth the time. And like I said, that's not the only resource out there. There's tons of resources. There's lots of great information out there. Find whatever it is that, that works for you, that you think is beneficial, and whatever it may be that could help your kids. And, you know, look forward to hearing from anybody on this.

Chris: That sounds awesome, and thanks again, Shay. And we will hope everybody stays safe this spring with all the crazy stuff going on. Be safe and thanks everybody for joining us again on the Ag View Pitch.

Shay: Thanks for joining us on today's episode of the Ag View Pitch. As always, you can reach out to us at cbarron@agviewsolutions.com or duanel@netins.net. We'll catch you next time on the Ag View Pitch.