GRANT PARISH, La. (This Week in Louisiana Agriculture) — A new grain bin rescue trailer is giving rural communities a critical tool to respond to one of agriculture’s most dangerous emergencies.
This Week in Louisiana Agriculture takes us there to tour the mobile unit, which is part of training efforts led by the Louisiana and Mississippi Farm Bureau, designed to ensure first responders not only know what to do but also have what they need when it matters.
The trailer is stocked with rescue tubes, ropes, and communication equipment, and can be deployed quickly to help in grain bin entrapment situations.
Grant Parish Farm Bureau President Ryan Yerby says the goal is to be ready, even if they hope it is never needed.
“We have the equipment that’s necessary,” Yerby explains. “It’s field-ready, it’s prepped, and we have a team trained that is ready to respond almost anywhere in the state. We can be there in almost two hours or less and address the situation before it becomes an even worse situation.”
Southern Region Manager with Viserion Grain, Tom Russell, says supporting the effort was an easy decision.
“The importance of farm safety obviously is first and foremost with us,” Russell says. “For us, knowing that we’ve got this in the community, and for now is centrally located in the state, we know that we’ve got the equipment that’s needed in the event of a farm engulfment.”
The Louisiana Farm Bureau also hosts annual safety workshops, training more than 300 farmers and first responders in just a few days.
