Even though it’s been a few weeks since National Farm Safety and Health Week, Illinois Department of Agriculture director John Sullivan hopes the message to heed cautiously during harvest season has not been lost. 

It’s been a deadly start in Illinois with two fatalities last week, one involving a grain bin and another involving a tractor.

The grain bin fatality occurred last Thursday near Keithsburg, in Mercer County, killing a 66 year old man after he fell into a silo. The tractor accident occurred in Whiteside County in Sterling last Saturday. 

The Whiteside County Sheriff’s Department report indicated a car attempted to pass the tractor, but the vehicle impacted the tractor’s carriage and a passenger in the car, a nine year old girl, died as a result of the mishap.