By Diane DeWitte, UMN Extension swine educator
Written for submission to The LAND - as September 12, 2025 Swine & U column
Memorial Day 2025 was going so well, it was a beautiful day of clear air, high clouds, and the distant hum of field work…. until we got that call that the baling tractor was on fire. Thankfully, someone knew where to find a fire extinguisher, and no one was hurt. The tractor driver had unhooked the baler and driven away from it, and, although the new baling tractor needed work under the hood, everyone was okay, and the operation resumed when a different tractor was hooked up.
On Memorial Day Tuesday, new fire extinguishers were placed in every tractor and truck. In fact, even I, a small-town-dwelling civilian, have secured a fire extinguisher for MY truck. Field fires are a fear and a certainty when fall farm work begins, and the reasonably inexpensive insurance of a fire extinguisher on board can mean the difference between an incident and a tragedy.
I encourage you to check out all the farm safety materials at the site and ensure that your farmer goes to the field with both tuned-up equipment and a personal safety plan in place.
Other farm safety related to hog farming also merits a review during Safety Week and all year round!
The influenza viruses found in swine can infect humans, although it isn’t a common risk. However, human influenza viruses can infect pigs and can cause the outbreak of new viruses in the herd. Swine health professionals today lament that in many large herds, influenza is present on a regular basis. For this reason, producers vaccinate against swine influenza. Human caretakers must also get a seasonal flu vaccination to reduce the chances of variant viruses forming and infecting the swine herd.
Additional influenza information for swine producers can be found on the US Center for Disease Control website at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu
Drill their habits to include:
Vaccines are the most common product that animal handlers inject into themselves. In swine farrowing settings, hormone products used to induce labor in pigs carry a warning against exposure to or accidental injection by pregnant humans. If possible, in the pig barn, pregnant employees should not handle hormones.
In addition to medical issues caused by rushed or thoughtless needle handling, mechanical problems can occur. Bent needles should never be straightened and used needles should be disposed of in proper sharps containers. Appropriate low-cost sharps containers are empty plastic detergent or fabric softener bottles with the lid screwed on tightly. Milk jugs are too flimsy for sharps containment and should not be used. When the sharps container is full, it should be tightly capped, sealed with heavy tape, and labeled that it contains sharps. Different counties have differing methods that they recommend for sharps disposal. A call to the county environmental services department can provide information for producers’ sharps disposal.
University of Minnesota’s collaboration with the Upper Midwest Ag Safety & Health Center (UMASH) has been at the forefront of the needlestick injury issue by providing bilingual fact sheets and producing videos to help farmers teach their animal caretakers. Needlestick prevention posters and more are available to producers on the internet at umash.umn.edu/needlestick-prevention.
As drivers share the road with the large equipment needed to do this work, it’s important that attention is paid to what’s moving on the road and how fast. For drivers in farm country, this is also a time to be patient—the operator has limited speed capabilities and may not even know that a driver is behind the equipment.
Back in the barn, the manure handler has to be extra careful when pumping the pits. Methane, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide is released as the stored manure is agitated and pumped. They are naturally-occurring gases, but they pose serious safety risks and can quickly overcome a human or a pig.
Producers should sure that hog buildings are fully ventilated when moving manure from the pits beneath. Use of the STOP tag on barn doors will alert everyone that manure is being pumped. These STOP tags can be obtained by contacting the MN Pork Board at 1-800-537-7576 or UMN Extension swine educators Diane DeWitte at stouf002@umn.edu or Sarah Schieck Boelke at schi0466@umn.edu.
More information about safe manure handling can be found on the University of Minnesota Extension manure management website at www.extension.umn.edu/manure under the “safety” heading.
Diane DeWitte in an Extension Swine Educator with University of Minnesota Extension based in Mankato, MN. She can be reached at stouf002@umn.edu
Written for submission to The LAND - as September 12, 2025 Swine & U column
Memorial Day 2025 was going so well, it was a beautiful day of clear air, high clouds, and the distant hum of field work…. until we got that call that the baling tractor was on fire. Thankfully, someone knew where to find a fire extinguisher, and no one was hurt. The tractor driver had unhooked the baler and driven away from it, and, although the new baling tractor needed work under the hood, everyone was okay, and the operation resumed when a different tractor was hooked up.
On Memorial Day Tuesday, new fire extinguishers were placed in every tractor and truck. In fact, even I, a small-town-dwelling civilian, have secured a fire extinguisher for MY truck. Field fires are a fear and a certainty when fall farm work begins, and the reasonably inexpensive insurance of a fire extinguisher on board can mean the difference between an incident and a tragedy.
NATIONAL FARM SAFETY & HEALTH WEEK 2025
This year’s National Farm Safety & Health Week on September 21-27 with the theme of Safety First- Avoid the Worst, is the annual autumn reminder to farmers and ag families. Developed by the National Education Center for Ag Safety, the September recognition features webinars related to a specific daily focus. This year even includes a kickoff webinar on Friday September 19: Rural Road Ready. Other topics during the week include Roadway Safety, Health & Wellness, Generations of Farming, Confined Spaces, and ATV/UTV Safety. These webinars can be accessed at the website: https://www.necasag.org/nationalfarmsafetyandhealthweek/I encourage you to check out all the farm safety materials at the site and ensure that your farmer goes to the field with both tuned-up equipment and a personal safety plan in place.
Other farm safety related to hog farming also merits a review during Safety Week and all year round!
ZOONOTIC DISEASES
A zoonotic disease is one which can pass from animal to human or vice versa. A common example in cattle and small ruminants is ringworm, the skin fungus which spreads easily. While ringworm in pigs is possible, it’s not much of an issue. More common is the chance of influenza spreading from caretakers to pigs or back.The influenza viruses found in swine can infect humans, although it isn’t a common risk. However, human influenza viruses can infect pigs and can cause the outbreak of new viruses in the herd. Swine health professionals today lament that in many large herds, influenza is present on a regular basis. For this reason, producers vaccinate against swine influenza. Human caretakers must also get a seasonal flu vaccination to reduce the chances of variant viruses forming and infecting the swine herd.
Additional influenza information for swine producers can be found on the US Center for Disease Control website at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu
KIDS ON THE FARM
Children who have grown up on the farm often have supreme confidence in the barn and on the machinery. While it is true that many farm kids learn responsibility at an early age, their ability may not be as well-developed as their confidence. When the farm kids are present, ensure that they understand your farm rules both when working with pigs and when moving around the machinery.Drill their habits to include:
- Step out of the way when the adults are moving pigs, unless they (the youth) have been trained and assigned a role in the process
- Know that mama pigs can get upset when their babies are handled or when they squeal
- Stay away from the barn when the manure is being pumped
- Stand way back from the PTO shaft when it is running
- Do not run up to the tractor/combine/truck until it has come to a stop and is not running
WORKING WITH LIVE ANIMALS
- Handling piglets during post-farrowing health care can cause the sows to become agitated. If the pigs begin to squirm and make noise, the sow will respond to protect her young. Caretakers working with young pigs should keep a sorting panel close to block the sow from causing injury.
- With the exception of young piglets and nursery pigs, most of the animals on the hog farm outweigh the caretaker. Steel-toed footwear is a must. In both Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA+) and Transport Quality Assurance (TQA) certification education for producers, the most highly recommended animal-handling implement is a solid sorting panel. The panel ensures the safety of both caretaker and pig.
- Although many swine operations today conduct reproduction through artificial insemination, most still have a few boars on the farm for heat detection. A large sexually mature male animal on the farm should be moved and handled with caution and protection. Again, the solid sorting panel is the tool of choice when moving boars.
INJECTIONS
Farm safety statistics show that over 80% of farm workers and 73% of swine veterinarian have accidentally stuck themselves with a needle while giving injections to livestock. Most accidental needlestick injuries are minor, but secondary results could be skin infections, allergic reactions, or a wound that might need surgery.Vaccines are the most common product that animal handlers inject into themselves. In swine farrowing settings, hormone products used to induce labor in pigs carry a warning against exposure to or accidental injection by pregnant humans. If possible, in the pig barn, pregnant employees should not handle hormones.
In addition to medical issues caused by rushed or thoughtless needle handling, mechanical problems can occur. Bent needles should never be straightened and used needles should be disposed of in proper sharps containers. Appropriate low-cost sharps containers are empty plastic detergent or fabric softener bottles with the lid screwed on tightly. Milk jugs are too flimsy for sharps containment and should not be used. When the sharps container is full, it should be tightly capped, sealed with heavy tape, and labeled that it contains sharps. Different counties have differing methods that they recommend for sharps disposal. A call to the county environmental services department can provide information for producers’ sharps disposal.
University of Minnesota’s collaboration with the Upper Midwest Ag Safety & Health Center (UMASH) has been at the forefront of the needlestick injury issue by providing bilingual fact sheets and producing videos to help farmers teach their animal caretakers. Needlestick prevention posters and more are available to producers on the internet at umash.umn.edu/needlestick-prevention.
MANURE HANDLING SAFETY
After crop harvest gets into full swing, we will see plenty of semi-truck manure tankers on the roadside and tractors moving through the fields across our counties. As harvest progresses and the soil temperature decreases, pig farmers and commercial manure applicators will be working quickly to get hog manure applied and incorporated onto the fields’ crop residue.As drivers share the road with the large equipment needed to do this work, it’s important that attention is paid to what’s moving on the road and how fast. For drivers in farm country, this is also a time to be patient—the operator has limited speed capabilities and may not even know that a driver is behind the equipment.
Back in the barn, the manure handler has to be extra careful when pumping the pits. Methane, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide is released as the stored manure is agitated and pumped. They are naturally-occurring gases, but they pose serious safety risks and can quickly overcome a human or a pig.
Producers should sure that hog buildings are fully ventilated when moving manure from the pits beneath. Use of the STOP tag on barn doors will alert everyone that manure is being pumped. These STOP tags can be obtained by contacting the MN Pork Board at 1-800-537-7576 or UMN Extension swine educators Diane DeWitte at stouf002@umn.edu or Sarah Schieck Boelke at schi0466@umn.edu.
More information about safe manure handling can be found on the University of Minnesota Extension manure management website at www.extension.umn.edu/manure under the “safety” heading.
SAFETY FIRST ALL YEAR LONG
Autumn is the time when we see more farm machinery traffic on the road and in the field, but safety is on farmers’ minds year-round. Knowing how to work safely with swine, machinery and other caretakers prevents loss or injury of humans and pigs!Diane DeWitte in an Extension Swine Educator with University of Minnesota Extension based in Mankato, MN. She can be reached at stouf002@umn.edu
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