Farm Credit Canada, along with the Rick Hansen Foundation and Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA), have launched #BackToAg – a social media campaign to help raise money for a new program that helps get injured farmers back to doing what they love best. From May 29 to June 13, Farm Credit Canada, Rick Hansen Foundation,... Read More
Category: Safety
Let's all take a moment to confess our less-than-safe bad habits — sending a quick text while driving, donning only the minimum of safety gear while mixing chemical or giving the wee ones a ride on the tractor or quad, even if there isn't a seat for them. Are all of these excusable because, hey,... Read More
Farm safety leaders are convinced talking is as necessary as safety equipment and training in preventing farm injuries. So maybe it’s not surprising the theme for this year’s Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, which runs March 9-15, is Farm Safety: Let’s Talk About It. Dean Anderson of Guelph, Ont., the agricultural program manager for Workplace Safety... Read More
In the past year, I have had two friends that lost canola seed bags off the back of their truck after seed pick up. Blame it on the wind, poor shrink wrap or your speedy driving, but you need to make sure that you have the seed bags secured on the truck or trailer deck... Read More
I spent much of my Christmas holiday in rural Alberta, where gossip of snow-induced roof collapse was becoming incredibly common. In most instances, more than just a roof was impacted, with reports of damaged machinery and livestock losses. So, for the first time in my life, I helped shovel snow from an altitude. (And for... Read More
The devastating early blizzard that shut down parts of South Dakota last week is a harsh reminder of how we're at the mercy of the almighty Mother Nature. As several news outlets are now reporting, the number of cattle who have died or are missing tops the 100,000 mark. Similar to the wicked spring snowstorm... Read More
For rural and farming communities, an accident of any kind can be made worse simply because of distance. The extra time it takes for help to arrive or to transport to a fully equipped hospital can, quite literally, be the difference between life and death. The STARS Ambulance, a helicopter-based rescue team, is a key... Read More
Ah, branding ... set to coincide perfectly with the start of the wedding season. As if the blindingly white legs of a farmer in a skirt aren’t nearly distracting enough, they must also be embellished with bruises. We held our branding on the last weekend of May, and I’m still thinking about pain mitigation for... Read More
Do you value safety on your farm? Of course! Do you have a simple, straight-forward health and safety plan for your farm? Likely not. Each year in mid-March, the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and Farm Credit Canada team up to promote and celebrate Canadian Agricultural Safety Week. This year's push... Read More
Farm safety took on a new meaning for me when I first met Alberta farmer Cliff Breitkreuz Jr., on his meticulously kept farm near Onoway. That’s going back a few years. Cliff had typed me a letter (on a manual typewriter) and then surface mailed it, inviting me to his farm to talk about politics... Read More