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PITTSVILLE, Wis. – Farm safety has been something Jerry Minor has made a priority since the early 1980s, and that focus led him to be selected as the second recipient of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s Hero of Hope award.
Minor, who grew up on a Wood County dairy farm, has served as a firefighter in his community for 44 years, including 21 years as chief of the Pittsville Fire Department.
“I was totally surprised,” Minor said. “I had never previously heard of the award, and when they called me about it, I didn’t understand what they were talking about. … It is nice to be recognized for a unit of work, but everything that we have done, it is not just me but the result of the work of many others in both agriculture and within our department.”
The Heroes of Hope award is a subset of the #FarmNeighborsCare campaign run by WFBF to bring recognition to members of rural communities who have helped others. Members of the agriculture community are encouraged to nominate those who they feel have made a positive impact on those around them. Nominations are made anonymously.
“Jerry is the person that calms your fears, dries your tears and makes your worst days a little better,” said his nominator in the nomination letter. “For those of us who work in rural communities, he is a hero of hope answering the call to serve others in ways we can never thank him enough.”
Along with Minor, other finalists recognized by the WFBF include Sara Byl of Polk County, Gretchen Kamps of Lafayette County, and Randy Roecker and Brenda Statz of Sauk County.
Farm safety holds a place of importance in Minor’s life because his department is typically the first line of response when a farm accident occurs. He said that being prepared and knowing how to respond as safely as possible is the key.
“Just like when a firefighter is lost, losing a farmer is devastating for the community, especially a small community like ours,” Minor said. “It has a ripple effect on the community, the organization and the farm. A lot of times the chances of the farm staying active after suffering a farm accident are small.”
That is why Minor said he is dedicated to preventing farm accidents through awareness as well as keeping his staff and those in other departments well-trained to respond to whatever type of incident they might encounter.     
“A farm accident is considered a low-frequency, high-risk incident,” Minor said. “We don’t see a lot of them, not enough to keep us proficient; not like auto accidents or other incidents we respond to.”                             
Minor has been involved with farm safety and the National Farm Medicine Center for much of his career as a firefighter, going back to 1981 when the center first started.
“Back then, there were more fire department members with experience on the farm. They knew what the potential hazards might be, how to operate the equipment and how to maneuver around the farm,” Minor said. “Today, very few people on the department have that background. That is part of why our focus on training is so important.”
Besides incidents involving equipment with moving parts, farm accidents might include toxic atmospheres, confined spaces or injury sustained from working with large animals, to name a few.
“Not only is the farmer injured or in danger, the firefighter working on the rescue is in danger of injury as well,” Minor said. “The goal any time is to not let what happened to the patient happen to us.”
To help achieve that goal, Minor works with the NFMC to develop training programs for firefighters. He has traveled throughout the country and Canada to conduct safety trainings in conjunction with the NFMC. Trainings are frequently held on local farms. Minor said the exchange of information at these events is important.
“The firefighters learn how to respond, and the farmers might learn how to prevent some of these incidents from even occurring in the first place,” Minor said.
For being selected as this year’s Hero of Hope, Minor will receive $500 cash, a Yeti cooler, $50 to Kwik Trip and a Culver’s meal package valued at $50. All the Hero of Hope finalists will be recognized in an upcoming issue of Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s Rural Route magazine.

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