Some funding available to add roll bars to old tractors

Limited rebates are available to help farmers pay for adding a roll bar to tractors manufactured before 1985 when the safety feature became required.

Iowa ranks first in tractor overturn fatalities in the nation, according to the National ROPS Rebate Program.

A Roll Over Protection Structure — or ROPS — is a metal bar or frame that attaches to a tractor and protects the operator. In the event of an overturn or rollover, the ROPS, when used with a seatbelt, prevents the operator from being crushed under the tractor.

“Investing in retrofitting older tractors with ROPS protects farmers and rural communities from a leading cause of agricultural death and injury,” Brandi Janssen, clinical assistant professor at the University of Iowa Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, said in a news release.

Adding a bar also will keep equipment operating safely for a longer period of time, she said, noting Monday begins National Farm Safety Week.

The National ROPS Rebate Program helps farmers receive funding to cover part of the cost to add a ROPS to a tractor, she said, though there is a waiting list, with more farmers interested in the funding than money available.

There is no designated state funding to retrofit tractors in Iowa, as there is in Minnesota, though there is limited funding each year from Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health

Janssen can be contacted for more information by emailing her at brandi-janssen@uiowa.edu. For more information about the National ROPS Rebate Program, visit https://www.ropsr4u.org/.