Times Advocate, 1992-07-15, Page 5711111111111.1111111111111111111111,
FA R A4 11. P T) A T F Time s - Advocate Juy 1b 1992 Page 25
Losinga gamble with a PTO shaft Time -Proven
SEAFORTH - Former Brussels -
area farmer Kevin Se nple consid-
ers himself lucky, although the
scars on his legs arms and beck
might not make you think so.
He was 19 years old on a misty
morning in October 1980. He was
using a forage blower to fill a bun-
ker silo. After checking the silo he
went back to the tractor and
reached across the power take -off
(PTO) shaft, just like he'd done
"hundreds of times before" to loos-
en up the hay flow, even though he
knew he shouldn't. This time, the
leather coat he wore to keep off the
cold snagged on the plastic ... .1
of the PTO and Semple found him-
self being wound upon the shaft.
"It (my coat) was hanging open
and it caught on the shield," Sem-
ple told those gathered for Thurs-
day's Farm Safety Association me-
dia day. "For some reason leather
doesn't tear too
well."
Semple figures he
was spun around the
shaft eight or nine
times, each time
squeezing between
the shaft and the
wagon hitch. Each
time round he teed
to shut off the power, but could not
quite reach. Somehow he managed
null the draw bolt on the hitch
and then entered what he described
as "full flight".'
"I do remember my life flashing
before me. 1 figured 1 was done
for," he said.
When he was found unconscious
beside the shaft, his boot covers
t and glasses were found
fifteen feet away. His
blue jeans and work
boots were the only
clothing he had left
"As you can sec, 1
did sustain a `^
wounds," said Semple,
showing off large
patches of scarred skin
on his arms and back. He endured
dozens of operations to transfer
muscles and tendons to ,replace
those tom by the accident.
He now boasts he has equal
strength in both arms, although he
allows his left hand doesn't operate
as it should. He now farms near
Listowel.
Semple described his accident as
the result of losing a gamble that
many farmers take. A few seconds
to shut the PTU shaft off would
have prevented it.
"I still take chances 1 shouldn't
take," confesses Semple, but offers
advice to others who work with
heavy ..oricultural machinery.
Leather coats, he says, are forbid-
den because they don't tear away at
all. Old coveralls should be used
near machinery because they tear
better than new ones. But most of
all "shut that PTO off before you
loosen up that hay."
Caution and respect needed ded for safety
SEAFORTH - The three-year old them in when they decided to run
bull in the field was considered a to catch up, the bull followed but
very docile, tame animal, explained suddenly stopped short when con -
Brussels area farmer Harold Bragg. fronted by Bragg's
But one misty morning, Bragg and silhoueue in the
his 2,186 pound Holstein didn't pasture.
quite see eye to eye. "His fust mind
Bragg told those at the Farm was to get it IntelSafety Association media day on out of the way, to continue
Thursday that he used to be a Bair\ his trip to the barn," said
farmer and kept one bull for breed- Bragg.
mg purposes. Raised from a calf, it The bull knocked Bragg
had always been taken out to feed down. He called to his natu
with the other cows. daughter who quickly brought a ce-
"As far as his re goes, he dar rail and slapped the bull, which
never had a mean bone in his then knocked her down. Bragg
body," he said. took up the rail and slapped the bull
That morning, about 6:30 a.m., again and eventually grabbed its
Bragg was -bringing the cows in neck chain and got a lock on its
from the field when a few lagged head. However, it pushed him
behind. Bragg went out to urge "like a bulldozer" down the field to
the gateway. to the sales barn," said Bragg.
Bragg said he lost consciousness He said he considers himself for -
for about 30 seconds. When he tunate to have been attacked out -
awoke, he saw the bull heading for side. Those who are attacked by
the barn • "like bulls indoors find themselves bat -
nothing had hap- tered against walls and stalls.
pened". Bragg is now in the beef cattle
His shirt, business. He stili keeps bulls, but
trousers, boots now handles them with much more
and one sock caution and respect- Nowadays, he
had all been •doesn't keep his bulls past one -and -
torn off during the a -half or two years of age, and he
incident. never goes out into a field without
After a hurried ride to the hospi- carrying a staff "to show who's
tal in Listowel, it , was discovered boss".
Bragg had seven ribs broken and a That staff that morning might
small puncture in the lung, from have made all the difference, Bragg
which he recovered. The bull did speculates.
not fare so well.
"1 went that way to Listowel and
he went the other way to Brussels -
Decrease in
number of
farms
OTTAWA - The number of
farms in Canada decreased by a
modest 4.5 percent between 1986
and 1991, the lowest drop in half a
century. according to the 1991 Cen-
sus of Agriculture.
Coosus results, released June 4
by Statistics Canada, show that
farms with net sales of over
550,000 increased by six percent
during the same period. -
Family -operated farms accounted
for 98 percent of census farms in
1991. Non -family corporations rep-
resented just over one percent of all
farms.
"When you consider the turbu-
lence and change farming went
through during the period covered
by the census, these arc encourag-
ing numbers," said federal agricul-
ture minister Bill McKnight. "1t
shows not only that the family farm
business is still strong. but also that
a growing number of these families
were able to depend on .their farm .
for a substantial portion of their in-
come.According to census figures, pro-
duction increased in a number of
commodities, including substantial
gains in specialty crops and Live-
stock
There were 1.3 million Orgs m
1991, a new census record, while
the number of beef cows increased
by 18 percent over the five-year
census period. Sheep showed the
largest increase of any livestock
category, up one-third to almost
936,000 head.
Special crop acreage increased
significantly over the last five years
while total vegetable acreage in-
creased by five percent
The number of dairy cattle de-
creased by 10 percent since 1986 -
while the tree fruit arca in Canada
dropped by two percent.
Wheat acreage was down by one
half perm*McKnight said the increase in
livestock and specialty crops indi-
cated that farmerswere more wil-
ing to diversify and take advantage
of new market opportunities.
He added that the increase in pro-
duction should counter criticism
that the Canada -U.S. Free Trade
Agreement is destroying Canadian
agriculture.
In the horticulture sector, for ex-
ample, total vegetable acreage has
increased five percent over the past
rive years. And the industry has
moved toward new varieties and
techniques which have increased
their competitiveness in Areas such
as greenhouse production, small
fruit and nursery products.
"I think the census results debunk
agree-
mentmyth that the free trade agrec-
mt would cost Canada markets"
said McKnight. "Free trade hasn't
closed markets. It's given us new
markets for new production."
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5V WHnP4EW IDEA
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SHIELDS AND GUARDS ARE YOUR PROTECTION!
I Make sure all shields are in place
I Replace wom or damaged shields and guards
d When removing a shield for adjustments, make sure all moving parts
have been stopped. FARM SAFETY ASSOCIATION INC,
Why More Farmers are
Bringing their Wheat
to HENSALL
DISTR!CT
C
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A 1 irk if- up
WE NEED AND APPRECIATE
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HENSALL Farmers
D!STRICT working together
(; 0 -OPERATIVE
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