Young Producer Summer Meltdown Celebration Encouraged Farm Safety (6/20/08)
The 2008 Young Producer Summer
Meltdown Celebration was held at Larson Acres, Inc. in Evansville, Wis., with
good farm facilities, good content, good food and great conversation. Young Producers from across
The day began with Mike Larson
giving the group a tour of their operation.
Larson Acres, Inc., consists of 1400 cows and 3500 acres supporting six
Larson families spanning four generations.
The tour highlighted their tie-stall barn turned calf barn, Bou-Matic
milking parlor, two four-row free stall barns, and the sand/manure separator
and manure storage structures where they are doing research with water
filtration. While the adults were on the farm tour the children learned a
little about farm safety with fun hands-on activities.
After the farm tour came a pork lunch served by the women of Larson Acres, complete with homemade cookies and bars. The lunch break was a time for networking and sharing the latest farm technology being used on farms.
Next, was the highlight of the day when three bright red fire trucks, from Evansville Fire Protection District, pulled into the farm yard to teach participants how dangerous farming can be and a few tricks the firemen use to rescue people. First they demonstrated how they would lift a tractor off a person using an airbag. Then they got out the jaws of life turning an old farm truck into a convertible, exhibiting how quickly they can work to rescue someone. Finally, everyone experimented with the large fire hose and fire extinguishers, learning how to properly extinguish a fire. Overall the theme was safety first, so that they or other fire crews do not have to rescue anyone.
Upcoming young producer activities include the Fall Conference November 1-2, 2008 in Wausau, Wis.; the Winter Get-Away January 31-February 1, 2009 in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. at the Kalahari Resort and Waterpark; and the Leadership Conference March 29-30, 2009 in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. at the Wintergreen Resort and Conference Center.
The Young Producer Program was designed to help producers develop friendships, build leadership qualities and strengthen communication skills through an educational, supportive network in a fun environment. As a cooperative, Accelerated Genetics understands the importance of producer leadership. The Young Producer Program was developed to help build leaders for the future of the cooperative and all of agriculture. For more information about the Young Producer Program call 1-800-451-9275 or email kstanek@accelgen.com.