The Rural Voice, 1978-10, Page 33frequencies.
What does this mean to you? First, it
means that operating a d -B -A combine or
tractor for more than six hour per day will
very likely result in hearing impairment.
Second it means that this impairment
occurs so gradually and insidiously that the
'victim ' is unaware of the loss until the
problem becomes acute and there is severe
hearing impairment. In addition to hearing
impairment, NASA has shown that
prolonged exposure to loud noise can cause
both stress and fatigue, with the result that
the operator is more prone to misjudgement
and accidents.
Unless the decibel rating of each
combine and large tractor is published or
otherwise supplied to the potential buyer
along with all other pertinent information,
how are you to know whether you are
buying future hearing impairment along
with you new machine? Some
manufacturers argue that there is no point
in making a quieter cab when the operator
will put on his headphones and turn up his
hi-fi'. However, the noisier the cab, the
more likely the operator is to turn the
music up louder, thereby assaulting his
eardrums with an excessive decibel level. I
am especially concerned about young
operators who can have their hearing
needlessly disabled by an excessive decibel
level in the farm implement cab.
When making an investment in your
next combine, cornpicker or large tractor,
will you also make an investment in your
hearing? Before you buy. press your dealer
for the dB -A reading in the cab of the
machine you want.
Brucellosis tough to detect
Detecting and eradicating brucellosis
from Canadian cattle herds—the number one
priority of Agriculture Canada's Health of
Animals Branch—is a tough job, made
tougher by the nature of the brucella
organism.
"The host -parasite relationship is
extremely well-balanced," says Conrad
L'Ecuyer, director general for operations
at Health of Animals Branch headquarters
in Ottawa.
He explains that the brucella organism
often stays dormant. sitting quietly in the
cow's lymph nodes, until she nears sexual
maturity. As pregnancy develops, so does
the brucella.
The bacteria attack the animal's repro-
ductive organs. and an abortion occurs.
The bacteria are then shed in great
• quantities, from the reproductive tract and
the udder, and the disease spreads quickly
to other cattle, mainly by ingestion.
Dr. L'Ecuyer says some female cattle
test negative to brucellosis for their first
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THE RURAL VOICE/OCTOBER 19713–PG. 33