County fairs. Summer festivals. Pumpkin patches. Apple orchards.
Seems everywhere you go throughout the year you see corn “pools” for kids to play in. The large volume of shelled corn is just as much fun to play in as sand. Kids fill buckets with shovels. Some even bury each other in the corn.
From a safety perspective, I cringe a little every time I see one. I realize it’s all in good fun, but in a different situation that same fun could be dangerous. Even deadly.
You have to wonder if this sort of play undermine the grain safety lesson. Some farm safety experts call foul claiming it’s setting a bad example.
Or perhaps it’s a good opportunity for parents to open up a conversation about safety with their kids, explaining the difference between the corn at the local orchard and the corn in the wagons of the farm yard.
What are your thoughts?
Must be at least 18-years-old to participate.
In addition to the concern of flowing grain dangers, one has to consider the dangers posed by the round-up ready crops all of us handle and eat on a nearly daily basis. Seeing that little girl playing in a pool of corn these days makes me visualize her swimming in a sea of cancer-causing pesticides.
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I share your concern about kids playing in a wading pool of grain. We had our FS4JK’s booth set up at an event recently, and right beside of our booth was an area where kids played in wading pools of grain. We were promoting the dangers of playing in hopper wagons, and right beside us were kids playing in grain. Not sure this kind of play is a good idea.