Farmers receive ‘stay safe, take a break’ bags

During the harvest season, farmers spend long, hard hours working with dangerous equipment to harvest the crops. Volunteers from Washington County 4-H have prepared and will start delivering “Stay Safe, Take a Break” bags to 200 farmers throughout Washington County since the busy harvest has begun.

4-H County Council members stuffed these reusable bags through a giant assembly line. The bags include a variety of items including: safety literature, granola bars, bottled water, emergency straps, safety glasses, koozies, note pads, sharpies, emergency contact signs, gloves, first aid kit, ear plugs, WD-40, rain-x, shop towels, baseball hats, reflectors, and cotter pins.

These bags are a way for farmers to be reminded to stay safe throughout this busy time of year by refueling and resting but were also made to show appreciation to the farmers throughout Washington County. This has become an annual project for the 4-H County Council youth in Washington County.

“Delivering these are a fun adventure each year,” said county council member Haylie Trowbridge. “Farmers are always happy to see us and some even say – hooray, it’s that time of year again.”

One farmer also said in a thank you letter sent in “We were amazed by all of the goodies/practical items in the bag and are using a lot of them already.”

These bags were made possible by several many community sponsors. Thank you to all the volunteers are delivering these bags and encouraging with the farmers as the harvest season unfolds.

For more information on how to keep farms safe, contact Washington County Extension & Outreach at 319-653-4811 or www.extension.iastate.edu/washington/