The Custer County Corn Growers Association held its annual crop tour the evening of Wednesday, September 6th. The tour started at Todd Thompson’s plot located northwest of Merna, along the Dale Valley Road. Producers were on hand to listen to several different seed representatives who highlighted the strengths and traits of their companies’ hybrids in the plot. Harvesting of plots will get underway soon, and everyone is looking forward to the data.
Following the field tour, attendees traveled to the Thompson farm to enjoy a meal and to listen to a presentation by Kelly Brunkhorst, Executive Director of the Nebraska Corn Board. Brunkhorst discussed recent legislation to promote ethanol fuel as well as the latest on this year’s farm bill.
Grain bin safety was also a very important topic covered Wednesday evening. Information about new technology to make grain bins safer was welcome news. Don Cantrell and Guy Mills were recent guests on the KCNI/KBBN Breakfast Show and during that interview, Mills said that for many years, there have been a lot of grain bin entrapment deaths across the United States. According to records at Purdue University, there have been 1,400 reported bin entrapments since 1964. In 2018 alone, there were 61 deaths nationwide. However, Mills believes there is a solution that is 100% effective as he has been participating on a task force with the University of Illinois, OSHA, and grain bin manufactures for 2 years. The task force study will soon be released and will provide recommendations to the industry on how to use compressed air to unplug a bin to eliminate grain bin entrapment deaths. Mills said the task force study can change the industry and the Corn Grower Association is proud to be of part of that advancement.
