A New Anhydrous Ammonia Safety Video Will Equip the Ag Sector

Organizations team up to create a safety video for the ag community

Each year our FS member companies conduct many hours of safety training and equipment inspections to ensure a safe season of applying Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3). Our FS member companies also facilitate extensive outreach to emergency responders in local communities to educate them on how to safely respond to NH3 incidents, provide facility tours, and jointly participate in drills.

The Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association (IFCA) is expanding upon this outreach by making an educational video about NH3 for the entire agriculture sector. GROWMARK partnered with IFCA to produce and distribute the new training video.

John Rebholz, the Director of Safety & Education at IFCA, says the new video will be a valuable training tool that could save lives.  “The purpose of the new video is for emergency responders, law enforcement, and hospital personnel to have a better understanding of anhydrous ammonia, which includes the properties, characteristics, safety, treatment, mitigation, and equipment.”  

Seth Keller, Morton Truck & Tank Center Shop Forman, participated in the video production by using the GROWMARK safety trailer to explain the various parts and features of transport tanker trailers. 

Image 1. A Manito Transit truck was used during the filming of the video at the GROWMARK Tank & Truck Center

“These tankers have a lot of very good safety features, and it is important to understand what they are and how to use them.  For example, knowing where the two emergency shut-offs are located and how to safely activate,” said Keller. “The more emergency responders know and understand these trailers, the safer they will be dealing with an incident.”

Jason Solberg, Director of Programs & Compliance at IFCA who took the video footage, added, “This will help emergency responders to have a better understanding of anhydrous ammonia in terms of how much and when it is utilized in the agriculture sector.” 

The video is expected to be completed in 2025 and distributed through key partners such as GROWMARK and other agriculture retail operations to emergency responders and medical services in local communities.

If you’d like to access the video for your training event, contact Kevin Frye at [email protected].