Every year on 25th October, farmers and farm teams across Australia come together for National Hay Safe Day—a vital reminder that hay safety is everyone’s business. At Feed Central, we’ve pulled together a suite of practical resources to make it easy to keep your team safe. From an informative hay safety video and free downloadable posters and checklists, to conversation cards perfect for sparking smoko-time discussions, and even an online certification course, we’ve got everything you need to make hay safety part of your everyday farm routine.

National Hay Safe Day is the initiative of Australian Fodder Industry Association (AFIA) member and director Suzanne Woods, a Western Australian hay grower, whose father was tragically killed in an on-farm accident more than a decade ago.

According to Farm Safe Australia’s Safer Farms report, there are a number of people injured or killed every year from incidents with hay bales.  National Hay Safe Day provides an opportunity to promote the importance of safe farming practices, and to support the safety and well-being of our farmers.

Young families with children need to treat a haystack like a swimming pool; you have to be safe around it.

This era of high-density balers and heavier bales increases the importance of safety full stop. High-density bales are now consistently ranging between 550-750 kilos, if a bale falls on you from any height, the chances of series injury are highly likely.

Here are some quick tips to help keep you and your family safe:

1. Be aware of your surroundings and ensure bystanders are well back from your load
2. Try to load or stack hay bales on level ground
3. Make sure hay stacks, whether on the ground or on trucks, are stacked well to prevent bales from falling
4. Keep children from playing on or around hay bale stacks

See our article on the Ultimate Guide on how to stack bales safely.