The Lucknow Sentinel, 1996-03-13, Page 71Use the
by Sue Ann Els
Farre vehicle accidents on
roadways is a-oncern being
addressed by the Grey and
Bruce Farm Safety Associations
in their spring blitz of safety
seminars. Part of reducing those ..
accidents is knowing the proper
use of Slow Moving Vehicle
(SMV) signs, whichhas created
a lot of problems in the pasta
The purpose of the sign is to,
warn other motorists that the
vehicle may be: travelling snow.
er thanthe normal speed of"traf-
fic,
"It's important to give as
much notice as you can, to the
driving .;publicbehind you. If;
you're going 15 km. on a tractor, :•
reaction time .for a car going 55
km. is .only seven seconds," said
Bill Rose,, farm safety consul=
•Rose said the signs are ;some
times -used for laneway markers
did other improper uses. Under
sign correctly
a new bill, any vehicle going
_under 40 km. an hour' will soon
be required to have an SMV
sign, which is to be .clearly post-
ed
osted on the back of the vehicle.
Having the orange and red trian-
gular sign on a vehicle going •
• faster than that will bebreaking
the law.
"Were just waiting for the
completion, of regulations., 1
can't interpret what the ministry
is going to go..it's taken them
15years to. recognize the irnporr,
tancce of the signs," ';Rose said.
. By law, thsigns must ,be
'clearly visible for.a distance, of
150 °m. but Rose said they .
should be seen. from 500
away. They should be posted
on the very end of the last piece
of ° equipment point up - and
mounted between two and six
feet from the ground. Faded or .:
damaged signs should be
replaced . to .ensure " theyare
clearly visible other motorists.'
Above all, "Rase said farmers
with equipment should be aware
of the traffic that's around them.
SMV signs don't guarantee
safety, but are one' aspect of
being responsible for the safe
operation of fanning equipment
and vehicles. A .video produced
by North Americanequipment,:
dealers demonstrates how easily
an .accident can occur both on
the farm and on the highways,
Rose said the video, .The;.
Wake: up Call, demonstrates that
close calls are au opportunity to
wake'rap to the danger.
Vie shouldn`t rely M on close
ealls, we should: act to prevent
thein. `Think, teach and practice
safety,"' Rose said:
•Though the number of `farm
accidents are down from a.
decade ago, tinea were still 19
fatalities in Ontario in 1995,
two of those were children
under the age of 16.
r o:
from page 14A
!Canada's land mass, about three
times 'the size of Great Britain
(68 million hectares) is used for
farmingr i..
total number, of farms in
Canada has shown a steady
decline of 133,000 in 1941 to
280,000 in 1991.
the number of farms
has dropped, the •n imb er of
larger farms (annual gross farm
receipts of $50,000 or more) has
doubled from 55,000 in 1966. to
118,000 in 1991:
-there-are fewer people liv-'
nd working on farms. In
.3 million people or 27
f Canada's population,
farms. Half a century
thefarm population . had
pped to 867,000 or three per-
cent. of the total.
—the 1991 census showed
people had changed their eating
habits from 1981 to 1991; There
were dramatic increases in the
consumption of vegetables, par-
ticularly
articularly broccoli which saw a
151 per cent -increase,
NOVER
BE 'V HOUSE
Make your none,
EER, WINE &
J UEUltS!
Brewed with
sparkling water!
ri a;
Meanwhile, butter, eggs,: pork
and beef consumption dropped,
as more people favored poultry.
Beef dropped by 16 : per cent.
Poultry increased by 3 1 per
cent.
-farm operators worked an
average of 53 hours per week: in
1991, compared withself.
employed people who averaged
41 hours. The average working.
Canadian worked 33 hours.
—farm operators Who"' hired'
pard labor worked about three
hours more per week than ober-
•ators without paid helii.. The*`
stereotype that farmers 'work
more hours attheir chosen
occupation than the average
Canadian is true
-statistics show female farm
operators are involved inlabor
intensive farming, •such as horn.:
culture and livestock as .opposed
to machinery based operations.
43 per cent of goat farm opera-
tors were women, 37 per cent
tobacco or, horse, 36 per cent
greenhouses, 35 per cent sheep,
fruit and vegetable farms.
e decline.
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NTZ SALES 84
SEEDg *FEEDS 4"4‘171e.
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the average age of farm
operators continues to climb, :,
increasing from. 47,.9 years in ...
1986 to 49,1 years in 1991.
-farmers are using, bigger
machinery. " As older tractors.
wore out, farmers opted for big-
ger horsepower. There. was a
decline in tractors in the 20 to
99 hp range froni 1986 to 1991:
—when it conies to haying,
farmers made a dramatic switch
from the small square bales to
large round bales from 1986 to
1991. ' 'By 1991, one-third of`
,balers used: in Canada were the.:
large balers, compared with
only one-fifth in '86, an
increase of 17,000 balers.
since 1986, the number of
.1arms arms with computers . quadru-
pled froom 7,800 farms to 31,000.
in '91. Younger farmers were
more likely to ° use computers.
14: per cent of farmers under age
55 used computers compared to
six per cent of those 55 and
over. ,
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