Abstract: On March 8, 2010, Employee #1, a farm worker, and coworkers were loading a cattle feeder with hay using a clam-shell attachment of a front-end loader. A coworker, who was operating the front-end loader, lowered the bale until it was several feet above the ground. Employee #1 cut several strings holding the bale together then ducked underneath the bale to cut another string, when the entire bale fell from the attachment onto Employee #1. Emergency personnel from the Esparto Fire Protection Department arrived and after freeing Employee #1 arranged to have him air-lifted to UC Davis Medical Center. The employee sustained back trauma including fractures to a vertebra and a rib and was released from the hospital on March 17, 2010.