A lot of people don’t realize how dangerous farming can be. In fact it’s one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. With cattle you never want to have your back turned at any given time.

The past summer my Uncle got attacked by a bull. This was the story I was told, so it is brief. My uncle, aunt, and a hired hand were at my grandpa’s farm they were loading up heifers at the heifer farm. Unfortunately there was also a bull in the same pasture. The bull knocked my uncle to the ground. Then my aunt hit the bull in the face with a stick. She is very lucky that she didn’t get attacked too. Then the hired hand carried my uncle out of the pasture. My grandma called 911. Then my grandma went to the farm and pulled the van in between my uncle and the bull so the bull couldn’t see him. Once the first responders got there, they were scared because the bull was still acting up. The First Responders called the ambulance to tell them to turn off the sirens before they got on the road where the accident happened. The bull broke his femur bone which is the biggest bone in your body. The bull fractured three of his ribs. Most of the time you are not as lucky as my Uncle. Some people have ended up dying from being attacked by animals. As of a few weeks ago my uncle can finally walk without a cane, and can start working again.

My mom called me and my dad since we were in Cumberland visiting friends. Since we had a cattle trailer already hooked up on the truck, we went to the farm were my uncle got attacked. My brother was with my grandpa, and when they called Grandpa to tell him the news he broke out in tears. After that my brother had to drive grandpa’s truck and the flatbed with the tractor home. My dad and I went up to see if the bull was still in the pasture, luckily it was. Then after my grandpa and brother got back from Ridgeland. My dad, grandpa, brother, and hired man got in tractors and managed to get the bull in the trailer. The reason why they used tractors was because they didn’t want anyone else getting hurt. The bull weighed around 2,500 pounds. It was beating up on the trailer, he was kicking and head bunting the trailer. It was really scary!

After this happened I was so afraid to even be around our milking cows. I was for sure worried that I was going to be attacked. If I see a cow even acting up I will keep looking behind my back. Sometimes I will even turn and walk against the bunk so I can see that cow. My other Uncle also got rid of all of his bulls after this happened. My grandpa decreased how many bulls he has. Hopefully he will get rid of the last few. My dad is only keeping bulls with great genetics and once they get mean we also will get rid of the bulls.

On overage a 113 youth die from farm related injuries. It could be from a bull, or tractors. On the farm you always want to be careful on what you do and how you can prevent injury, even though sometimes it is impossible to know how to prevent an injury or death. In 2009, 16,100 people were injured from farm related accidents. There was a survey taken place between 1992 and 2009, 9,479 farmers were injured or killed. The most common was 90 deaths from tractor overturns. On average of 243 agriculture workers a day are injured or have life changing injuries.

Always remember to be safe, and always watch your back around bulls. Double check if it is a safe place to go with your tractor, to prevent an overturn. The main key is to be safe! Even though my uncle turned out to be fine, I hope this helps you realize that not everything about farming is as easy as it seems. Remember always be safe, and watch out for anybody with farm equipment.