Agriculture Minister asking producers to keep safety in mind

Mar 16, 2018 | 5:30 AM

This is Canadian Agricultural Safety Week.

Alberta Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier says with calving time here, and seeding not far off, now is a good time to think about farm safety.

“This year’s campaign will feature making farming safer for senior producers. A lot of our farmers are getting older, (so) what can you do to prevent slips, trips, falls, and, of course, also for their grandchildren, which are increasingly coming from our urban centres, what can they do to make those farms safe for their grandchildren as well.”

Carlier describes farming as “highly technical” because it involves complicated machinery with a lot of moving parts and animals that are unpredictable.

“I know, for sure, our producers are thinking about safety every week. But, if we can pause and take an opportunity to look at it in a strategic, larger sense, I think we can do somewhat better. All of us want to make sure that safety on the farm is paramount in everybody’s mind.”

He adds older producers have a lot of knowledge about safety that can be passed to others.

“There are techniques to be used, they can be learned from perhaps those senior producers that have learned these techniques, sometimes the hard-knock way. They know the best way to handle animals and to ensure that information is passed on to younger generations.”

Carlier wishes everyone a prosperous and safe farming season.

by Curtis Galbraith