The federal government has stepped in to top up provincial funding for workplace health and safety measures on-farm in Ontario. Agriculture and Agri-Food minister Marie-Claude Bibeau previously announced $35 million for a federally-administered program, and this week, announced $11.6 million for the Ontario version — the Enhanced Agri-food Workplace Protection Program (EAWPP). Originally announced in… Read More
Being thoroughly trained to operate a truck and trailer is incredibly important. It’s been a little over two years since the fatal Humboldt Broncos bus crash with a truck and trailer unit which claimed 16 lives, injured 13, and spurred an inquiry into how truck drivers are trained and licensed. The accident, and others like… Read More
Harvest season is upon us, and with hot, dry conditions comes the concern for equipment fires in the field. Are you prepared in case of an emergency? The first line of defence is to clean equipment of caked-on oil, grease, and crop residues and by regularly removing excess residues or plant materials wrapped around bearings… Read More
Starting this month, the Farm Freedom and Safety Act (FFSA) has come into effect. Put in place by the Alberta Government, the Act — known as Bill 26 — is a replacement of Bill 6, introduced by the previous NDP government. In it, there’s changes to current employment, workers compensation coverage (WCB), and occupational health… Read More
Moving farm equipment down the road can be a scary situation. To make it safe, everyone — farmers and drivers — need to understand the rules of the road and follow them, says Matt Mitchell, an enforcement officer for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Speaking with farmers at the SouthWest Agricultural Conference (SWAC) last week… Read More
A Saskatchewan man has died following a late night work incident. Warman RCMP responded to a report of a 41-year-old man trapped inside a grain mixer in the RM of Corman Park, Sask. The incident took place around 11:40pm, and both Medavie ambulance and the Osler fire department responded to the scene. STARS air ambulance… Read More
Here we are, just a few weeks from the holidays and the end of the calendar year, and many farmers are using every last bit of daylight to get the crop harvested and dried, if they can. When you’re pushing long hours in less than ideal conditions, sometimes safety gets thrown out the window, and… Read More
The Alberta government has introduced its new police funding model that will increase the amount of RCMP officer and civilian positions. The Provincial Police Service Agreement (PPSA) will be a cost-sharing initiative between both the federal and provincial governments along with the addition of small and rural communities beginning to pay a portion of the… Read More
RCMP are investigating after a farm accident in rural Manitoba. Yesterday around 1:30 p.m. Blue Hills RCMP responded to an area east of Hwy 464, south of Brookdale, in the RM of North Cypress-Langford. Upon arrival, a 73-year-old man from the RM of Cypress-Langford was pronounced dead at the scene. Early reports indicate the man… Read More
Western Canada got absolutely hammered by snow this last week, which brings up questions on lifters, stripper headers, and more. For Ontario, soybean harvest is late but rolling, and that means the questions about winter wheat seeding are also rolling in to Wheat Pete’s Word host, Peter Johnson’s mailbox! From when to bump seeding rates,… Read More
As harvest is in full force for most, it’s always good practise to be up to snuff when it comes to fire safety on the farm. Depending on where you live, conditions could be favourable for the smallest spark to light a grass fire. That being said, regular harvest conditions can lead to the potential… Read More
Harvest is a stressful time of year — things have to get done, but it’s not a time for cutting corners when it comes to farm safety. That’s the message Rob Gobeil, health and safety specialist for the Canadian Agriculture Safety Association (CASA), shared when he visited with RealAg Radio host Shaun Haney earlier this… Read More
Rural crime is an unfortunate term we’ve all come to know — whether we’ve encountered it ourselves, or had a neighbour in the area deal with an incident. The question always is, what do we do about it? What is within the farmers’ rights when it comes to other people trespassing and stealing property? Moose… Read More
Canada’s Medical Hall of Fame inducted six new members last week, and one inductee has a major tie to the agriculture world. Dr. James A. Dosman, known to many as the “father of agricultural medicine in Canada,” was inducted for his many contributions. Dosman is the founding director of the Canadian Centre for Health and… Read More
Less than two months into a pilot project, Saskatchewan RCMP have announced it will be expanding its Crime Watch Advisory Network. The project first came online near the beginning of March this year and was offered only in the southern part of the province. Due to a lot of interest across the entire province, the… Read More
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