The County is giving out up to five of these signs, free of charge, to any interested farmers to remind OHV users to stay off of farm land (Photo: County of Grande Prairie)

By Liam Verster

Stay Off the Crop

Snowmobilers reminded to stay off farm land

Jan 30, 2020 | 5:00 AM

The County of Grande Prairie is reminding snowmobilers once again to stay off farm land, as crops under the snow can be seriously damaged by the machines.

Close to 30 per cent of the crops in the county were left unharvested this winter, after the County declared an agricultural disaster. Crops also remain under the snow in the MD of Greenview and Saddle Hills County, where agricultural disasters were also declared early in the winter.

The crop is sitting mostly undisturbed under the snow, but the County’s Agricultural Fieldman, Sonja Raven, says that can change if a snowmobile runs over it.

“The biggest thing is, particularly with canola or anything still in a shell, for lack of a better term, any disturbance that comes over that can damage that, and then the seeds fall out and they land on the ground. And as soon as they’re on the ground, you’re not going to harvest them.”

She adds that a lot of people look at what may look like an empty unused plot of land, and assume crossing it wouldn’t cause any problems.

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“But the reality is, it kind of comes down to what my Mom taught me, ‘if it aint yours don’t touch it.'”

“If it’s not your land, the least you could do is to ask permission to cross it. I think you could pretty much agree that most people in town, if they had somebody wandering through their back yard, they would be pretty aggravated. And that doesn’t even talk about the economic losses that farmers will be suffering because of this activity.”

She says people looking for outdoor adventures should stay in the Green Zones, which is unused Crown Land that may be better suited for these activities. Maps of the Green Zones are sold at the County Administration Office.

Raven adds that people need to plan ahead, and if they want or need to cross farm land, they should ask permission.

“If it’s grazing or pasture land that doesn’t have a crop on it, who knows, you might get permission.”

She adds that the County is offering help for local farmers. Signs are available, free of charge, at the County’s Administration Office, which say “Please Stay Off the Crop,” and makes it obvious that it’s private farm land.

She says, in extreme cases where lots of people are crossing over their fields, the RCMP should be called, as it is a form of trespassing.