Ontario Grain Farmer March 2021

ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER 35 MARCH 2021 continued on page 36 “When my mom saw it, she was yelling at the screen ‘Get them out! Be careful’ and at one point, the box of Kleenex came out,” says Rob Gobeil, agricultural health and safety specialist with the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA), which has helped facilitate the movie’s 10 screenings in Canada. “It definitely pulls at the heartstrings and opens the topic up to people interested in more than just the technical aspect of grain bin entrapment. But it’s realistic too, and most farmers can relate to it.” SILO, filmed on farms in Iowa and Kentucky, was produced in 2018 with support from the farming community there, including Sukup Manufacturing, which built the film’s grain bins, and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Gobeil was introduced to the movie in 2019 at an agricultural health conference in Iowa — an appropriate venue to discuss difficult topics such as grain entrapment, which has killed 1,200 farm workers in the U.S. in the past 50 years. More than 20 per cent of the dead have been teenagers, and the topic knows no borders. “Canadian grain production has many similarities to that of its neighbour to the south,” he says. “For that reason alone, there is a large market in Canada for the film. But I also believe all farmers, their families, rural living individuals, firefighters, and film lovers in general can appreciate SILO.” REACHING AUDIENCES Interest in the film keeps growing. By the time this New Year started, it had been seen by more than 50,000 farmers on both sides of the border, including an estimated 2,000 farmers in Canada. Here, besides CASA, grain and oilseed organizations, along with volunteer fire departments, have hosted screenings, in cooperation with the film producers. 1-833-632-7637 | AgraCity.com CANADA’S LARGEST SELECTION OF AFFORDABLE CROP INPUTS CROP PROTECTION CROP NUTRITION A New Era of Affordable + Performance is Coming!