Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH) named Mike Schouten the 2011 recipient of its Agricultural Safety and Health Hall of Fame Award. He was recognized at the Midwest Rural Agricultural Safety & Health forum opening session on November 16, 2011.
Schouten is the Agriculture Stewardship Center manager at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. He teaches and promotes agricultural safety in the college’s agriculture program, where he leads sessions in which students are taught to safely operate agricultural equipment.
Schouten also works with the Northwest Rural Electric Cooperative in the teaching and promotion of electrical safety in an agricultural setting, and has assisted the KMEG television station in Sioux City, Iowa, in the development of farm safety public service announcements for the harvest season.
In addition, Schouten serves as the central coordinator for the usage of safety demonstration devices for the Farm Bureau, Iowa State Extension Service, the community hospital and Dordt College. He provides training to high school students and FFA and 4-H groups that request to use the equipment for safety demonstration purposes.
Schouten also encouraged and helped students build a dust explosion simulator that has been utilized by many groups, including the South Dakota Wheat Growers Association, which used the simulator to train elevator personnel in dust explosion prevention.
I-CASH created the Hall of Fame Award in 2002 as a lifetime achievement award for individuals or organizations that have made significant and lasting contributions to agricultural safety and health in Iowa.