Dairy Farmer Stresses Safety After Near

The power take-off shaft, which connects to a tractor and is used to power equipment, is a significant contributor to farm accidents. Most PTOs are protected with guards covering the shaft and universal joints, but they still present a danger.

Chris Landis finished the morning milking and figured he’d spray a few acres of corn while the wind was calm.

The decision changed his life.

Landis, 35, of Stevens, Pennsylvania, milks 45 cows, operates two broiler houses and farms 150 acres along with his wife, Laura, four children and a part-time hired hand.

Chris Landis and his wife, Laura, with their children, from left, Ava, Matthew, Jacob and Leslie. Landis recently injured his leg after his clothing was caught in the PTO shaft of a sprayer.

The spring had been dry this year, things were running behind and milk markets were low. On June 26, Landis was feeling the stress and he was trying to get a lot done.

“I was behind on my spraying and noticed it wasn’t windy that morning, so I put the chemicals in the sprayer and figured I’d let it agitate while I went inside and changed,” he said.

Landis started the tractor, engaged the power take-off and jumped down. Just before he started for the house, Landis remembered he forgot to switch on the agitator, and that’s when disaster struck.

Rather than climb back onto the tractor to reach the switch, he stepped onto the back where the three-point arms attach.

“My foot slipped off, and even though the PTO shaft had a guard, right in front of that where the universal joint is, it grabbed the toe of my boot and pulled my leg under the shaft,” Landis said.

He latched onto the fender of the tractor to prevent the shaft from pulling him down, struggling to hold on against the force of the PTO.

“It started to pull my boot off and was cinching my jeans like a tourniquet,” Landis said. “It kept twisting tighter and I was holding onto that fender with everything I had, afraid it would pull me in.”

Eventually, the shaft ripped off Landis’ pants and flung him into the yard. A trained firefighter and EMT, he immediately inspected his leg and said the back of his calf felt like jello.

As the PTO shaft still spun, violently whipping his boot and left pant leg around, Landis called his wife and walked into the house.

And that’s when he felt the pain. His wife arrived home and took him to the emergency room, where doctors said it was a miracle that he didn’t suffer any broken bones or torn ligaments.

But he wasn’t out of danger just yet.

The next day, Landis visited a orthopedic specialist. When the wrapping was removed from his leg, Landis’ calf had swelled to 8 inches in diameter and was a deep shade of purple.

“The doctor said if proper blood flow doesn’t return, there was still a chance of losing my leg. That gave me a wake up call,” he said.

Fortunately, Landis didn’t lose his leg and his recovery has been going well. While he’s not ready to resume his full workload around the farm, he may try to help out with milking in his tie-stall barn while his leg is still protected with an orthopedic boot.

And even though doctors said a complete recovery could take up to 12 months and it’s not certain if effects of the injury will linger, Landis considers himself lucky.

“The entire incident lasted probably 20 seconds, and it felt like six months,” he said. “Something so simple and a risk everyone’s taken a million times and you get away with it, and it’s just that one time that gets you and that’s all it takes.”

Risk is inherent with agriculture — an occupation that ranks in fatal work injuries right behind construction and transportation/warehousing, according to 2021 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Penn State Extension keeps annual tabs on farm-related fatalities, and data from 2015-2019 shows summer and fall are the peak periods for accidents. The leading source of fatalities during that span was vehicles, which includes tractors and machinery, and PTO incidents were the major injury source and accounted for 33% of all fatalities.

According to Linda Fetzer, program specialist with Penn State Extension, the uncertainties that come with agriculture, including weather, market fluctuations and equipment breakdowns, are the root causes of many accidents.

“Stress can be both good and bad and effects each person different,” Fetzer said. “There are never enough hours in the days for farmers to get things done, so yes, they may feel rushed when they are trying to get things done before it gets dark or before the next storm arrives.”

When it comes to PTO shafts, she said there are precautions that farmers should never take for granted.

“When working around a power-take off, we stress that it is important to stop the tractor, disengage the PTO, put the key in your pocket, and wait for any moving parts to completely stop before doing any type of maintenance,” Fetzer said. “Always walk around the piece of equipment so that you do not step over the PTO. There are shields on PTOs so it is extremely important that the shield remains in place on the equipment, and if it is cracked or broken, then it should be replaced.”

Landis agrees that stress and mental health is something that farmers need to pay more attention to in their daily routines. Sometimes that last second job can wait, he said, and it’s not a bad thing to ask for help to get things done.

“You’re used to just manning up and not asking for help but trying to do everything yourself, and that’s when you start cutting corners,” he said. “Mental health in the agriculture industry is not addressed enough. It needs to change.”

When it comes to help, Landis witnessed firsthand that there are plenty in the agriculture community willing to lend a hand.

When he returned home from the hospital on the day of his accident, cars were parked all around his house and neighbors were milking the cows, feeding and doing other chores.

And Landis didn’t even call them to ask for help.

“The neighbors just poured in, and I had more help than work,” he said. “It really hit me when I saw all of them at the farm.”

As he works his way back to normal, Landis said he will be more observant with his kids, and himself, when it comes to working on the farm. He will take his time to do things, make repairs to things that pose a hazard, and make sure safety practices are followed, especially when his children are watching him work.

“To think that because I was rushing, trying to get 25 acres of corn sprayed, my wife could’ve been a widow and my kids might not have had a dad,” Landis said. “This all could’ve been avoided if I would’ve taken a few seconds to climb onto the platform to switch on the agitator switch properly. But I cut a corner and got caught.”

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Staff Reporter

Tom Venesky is a staff reporter for Lancaster Farming. You can reach him at [email protected].