Heartland farmers unite to equip bootheel with grain bin rescue gea

Dec 04, 2019 at 07:12 AM CST
PEMISCOT COUNTY, Mo. (KFVS) - A cotton farmer, a firefighter, and a widow are all praising an effort to equip first responders in Missouri’s bootheel with new equipment for rescuing people trapped in grain bins.Matt Pierce’s family has been farming in Pemiscot county for more than 150 years. This year a third of Pierce’s crop is rice, which he stores in large on-farm grain gins.“There are close to 450-grain bins just in Pemiscot county, with a total storage capacity of 10 million bushels,” Pierce said. “Some people don’t understand the risk involved until an accident happens.”Pierce submitted an essay to the ‘Transform My Community’ contest inspired by the story of David Dowdy, a farmer from Stoddard County who in 2009 suffocated after falling into a grain bin full of crusted corn he was cleaning.

Dec 04, 2019 at 07:12 AM CST

PEMISCOT COUNTY, Mo. (KFVS) - A cotton farmer, a firefighter, and a widow are all praising an effort to equip first responders in Missouri’s bootheel with new equipment for rescuing people trapped in grain bins.Matt Pierce’s family has been farming in Pemiscot county for more than 150 years. This year a third of Pierce’s crop is rice, which he stores in large on-farm grain gins.“There are close to 450-grain bins just in Pemiscot county, with a total storage capacity of 10 million bushels,” Pierce said. “Some people don’t understand the risk involved until an accident happens.”Pierce submitted an essay to the ‘Transform My Community’ contest inspired by the story of David Dowdy, a farmer from Stoddard County who in 2009 suffocated after falling into a grain bin full of crusted corn he was cleaning.