Graves County was one of the many communities deeply impacted by the December 10, 2021 Quad State Tornado. Mayfield Grain Company, a large grain elevator in the heart of Mayfield, took a direct hit in this storm and ultimately chose to permanently close their doors at this location. According to the USDA, Graves County is the 8^th largest sized county, the 5^th largest county in grain production, and 1^st in Ag Receipts in Kentucky. At full capacity, Mayfield Grain stored over 6.5 million bushels of grain and served approximately 200 local farmers. The loss of this facility left farmers scrambling to build new and/or larger grain storage facilities on their farms. These new facilities bring with them the potential for an increase in grain entrapment accidents across the very large county and of the 10 active fire departments across the county, only 2 stations had grain entrapment rescue devices.

This concern was brought to the Graves County Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent’s attention at a Graves County Farm Bureau meeting, and it was then decided that Graves County Cooperative Extension Service and Farm Bureau would do what they could to make sure that every active department in the county had a rescue device at their station. At the next meeting, the extension agent reported their research on devices and a voucher program through Turtle Plastics available for anyone wanting to donate these devices to their local fire departments. Within a few hours of the close of the Farm Bureau meeting, donations were secured from ag businesses and private producers to be able to purchase a Turtle Tube Rescue Device for each station. Graves County Emergency Management helped provide information needed to get adequate supplies and distribution information. The extension agent ordered the devices and worked with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Safety Administrator to coordinate training opportunities once the devices were received.

On July 13, 2023 over 80 first responders and several farmers, extension representatives, and Farm Bureau representatives gathered for a meal sponsored by River Valley Ag Credit and distributed the devices to each department’s chief. Graves County Emergency Management Director remarked at what a relief it is to have these devices now spread around the county and this sentiment was shared by all the first responders. Seconds are important where grain entrapment rescue is involved, and being able to spread these devices across the county will not only help keep farmers safer but also help protect our first responders who might show up to these emergencies. Graves County had a grain entrapment death in March of 2020 so the pain of that event is still fresh for people in this community. While the hope is that these devices are never needed, the long-term impact in having these readily available will benefit Graves County farmers and first responders for many years to come by decreasing the amount of time it takes for this necessary equipment to show up on site and potentially save lives.