Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the smell of crisp morning air, the taste of hot apple cider, and the sight of the farm. My family gathered in our cars every fall for many years and caravaned to the farm. We collect fresh Delicata squash, Green Bluff carrots, pumpkins, end-of-the-season tomatoes, apple butter, and pies for the freezer. We would take a whole day, going from farm to farm, gathering the best from each farm. My grandchildren would find their way through the corn maze at one farm while the adults enjoyed the warm, comforting taste of hot apple doughnuts and cider. We would change to an agreed-upon orchard for apple picking. Afterward, we’d have lunch and listen to the soothing sounds of outdoor music. At another farm, the grandchildren ran to the top of a giant slide, feeling the thrill of sliding down on a burlap bag up to three times. Sliding three times costs $1. Afterward, we would pick pumpkins from the fields, reseeded with nightly. As we stood in line to pay, we would choose our favorite pies for the freezer. Then, off to our homes we would go.
Hayride Incidents
Strangely, we never went on hayrides. Many farms provided hayrides as entertainment and a means of transportation to apple picking. Our family always walked to pick apples. I only started to wonder about hayrides after reading AgInjury reports. This year, in particular, has been difficult for hayride agrotourism. On October 16, 2024, NBC News reported, “Two young boys die in separate Halloween hayride tractor incidents.” The first, a thirteen-year-old from Rice, Minnesota, died after a tractor-pulled trolley wagon ran him over at a haunted hayride. He was a volunteer working at the event as a scare actor. The second was a twelve-year-old from Hamilton County, Tennessee. He had tried to jump on the tractor-drawn hayride to scare riders at another haunted hayride. He may have slipped and fallen underneath the wheels of the wagon. Both incidents are under investigation.
Teenagers have been getting injured at hayrides for as long as there have been hayrides, whether haunted or not. On October 28, 2023, a 14-year-old Rhode Island girl worked as a scare actor. Somehow, she fell under the rear wheels of the hayride wagon and was critically wounded. The incident could have been much worse. However, the tractor driver immediately stopped upon striking the girl, and almost every rider helped lift the wagon off the girl. She survived but was in critical condition after the incident. OSHA investigated this incident and levied a fine against the employer.
2024 3rd Quarter AgInjury Report
Resources from the National Children's Center
Fall hayrides are part of our history. We celebrate the season with our trips to the farm and annual hayrides. This is just another example of farm safety always comes first. The National Children’s Center provides operators and participants with tools for safe hayrides. Please check out these resources:
- Hayride Safety Checklist and Supervision Guidelines. This resource is designed with the operator in mind and provides a checklist and supervision guidelines to ensure safe hayrides. The New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food also provides these Hayride Safety Recommendations.
- Hayride Safety Walkthrough exercise. This exercise helps us (the participants) identify whether the hayride operator has addressed our basic safety. Please take a moment to click through the Walkthrough.
Learning about hayride safety has given me new perspective on a planned trip with my granddaughter. We are going to the farm Pumpkin Patch, Corn Maze, Pumpkin Sling Shot, Tractor Pulled Hayrides, and more. I’m looking forward to creating new Fall memories with her. I think I have picked the perfect farm. I hope to see you there.
Happy Fall,
Judy
Judy Lysiak is Program Coordinator at the PNASH Center.
