By Diane DeWitte, UMN Extension swine educatorOriginally printed in The LAND - as September 13, 2024, Swine & U column I’ve recently spent time traveling across ag country including the Midwestern and Northeastern US and agricultural areas in Canada. It’s always interesting to see crop progress in far-flung areas, and to get excited as equipment begins to roll in spots where early planting occurred. With the movement of today’s large imposing farm machinery, the importance of ag safety rises to the top of mind. Each September the Iowa-based National Education Center of Agricultural Safety (NECAS) recognizes a safety week. In 2024 the National Farm Safety & Health Week is September 16 - 20, with the theme “Don’t Learn Safety by Accident” HISTORY The National Farm Safety & Health Week website provides this background about the safety week and current data related to ag health incidents. The 2022 data for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the agricultural