The Rural Voice, 1980-06, Page 30Stress can cause
farm accidents
Stress is an important factor in safety on
the farm. according to Dr. Olga Crocker,
chairman of administrative studies at the
University of Windsor.
Dr. Crocker reported her survey of farm
families in southwestern Ontario found 75
per cent of the farmers who indicated
they'd had minor farm accidents in the past
year suffered from higher than average
stress levels.
Dr. Crocker warned delegates to the
Ontario Farm Safety Association con-
ference in Toronto that "stress dulls the
reflexes" and takes a person's mind off the
task. She said a relaxed person is more
likely to do a better job.
The guest speaker said there are two
types of people in society. The Type A
individual never rests, is a "go-getter"
and always works with a sense of time
urgency, trying to accomplish more and
more in less and less time.
The Type B individual is the opposite of
Advice on Farming
this personality, with a lower achievement
profile and what the Type A person might
regard as a lackadaisical attitude to work.
DIFFICULT AND RISKY
In Dr. Crocker's survey, she found farm-
ers generally consider their livelihood to be
a difficult and risky way to earn a living.
Also, a number of the respondents
reported a growing anxiety over the
business demands of modern agriculture.
Illness can be considered a sign of stress
and the survey found many more male
rural residents than females reported ill-
ness over the previous year. But Dr.
Crocker reported women apparent!), suffer-
ed a greater degree of anxiety about their
lives, because of the rapidly changing role
of women in today's society.
The study also investigated stress relat-
ive to age, and found stress was highest in
the 21-30 age group for men and rises
again in the 51 to 65 bracket.
Dr. Crocker's study also looked at the
priority farmers place on the problems they
face. The highest priority went to financial
problems, but surprisingly, Dr. Crocker
learned a marked increase in income prod-
uces more stress than a decrease in earn-
ings. The researcher reasoned an influx of
capital increases the options for change in
the farm farnily.
UNCERTAINTIES
The next greatest cause of stress is un-
certainty in the farm business, which may
be caused by loss of a production contract,
marketing board restrictions or adverse
weather conditions.
Dr. Crocker also found fluctuations in
the work load can be tough on the farmer
and often lag periods are more difficult
than periods of overwork.
To reduce stress on the farm, Dr.
Crocker recommended those who seem to
suffer stress in their lives should undergo
self -appraisal in order to more clearly
define their life's priorities. Diversions
such as hobbies and a change of environ-
ment or diet can help.
"You have to find out what works for
you," the researcher told convention
delegates.
The Ontario Farm Safety Association
convention was held in Toronto
on March 10.
Pills may reduce
newborn losses
Reducing losses from scours and other
digestive disorders in calves and Iambs
may some day be as simple as giving a
bacterial pill to a newborn animal.
Cheng, a rumen microbiologist at
Agriculture Canada's research station at
Lethbridge, Alta., has been studying a
previously -unknown bacteria found on the
walls of the digestive tract in cattle and
sheep. Dr. Cheng says that these
organisms, by occupying the surface of
these walls, could protect calves and
lambs from harmful bacteria.
"Calves and lambs are born without the
bacteria they need to digest their food."
says Dr. Cheng. "They accumulate
beneficial bacteria from their mothers and
their surroundings. Unfortunately, they
can also pick up harmful bacteria that
cause disease and death."
Dr. Cheng will feed the beneficial
bacteria to calves and lariats soon after
birth. By coating the walls of the digestive
tract, these normal, healthy bacteria may
be able to prevent harmful organisms from
getting a start.
"This method will probably be effective
only for newborns," cautions Dr. Cheng.
"The first bacteria to reach the gut arc the
ones that take over. After a couple oI
days, they are well established and difficult
to change without changing the animal's
feed.
"Beca .se calves and lambs are raised
on their mothers' milk, a change in feed is
not practical," he says.
As an added bonus, Dr. Cheng has found
the beneficial bacteria can provide up to
five per cent of an animal's total needed
protein. They do so by digesting the dead
cells shed from the rumen wall, and
recycling the valuable nitrogen.
"These important wall -associated
bacteria occur naturally in all cattle and
sheep," says Dr. Cheng. "Their function,
especially in low -protein diets, is to change
urea to ammonia, which is used by rumen
bacteria to build amino acids and
proteins."
Guelph starts
weed alert
Keeping track of problem weeds poses a
challenge to farmers, agricultural re-
searchers and extension specialists, and
herbicide industry personnel. But now,
with the cooperation of people who are
faced with unusual weed problems, the job
will be easier.
This spring, the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food and the University of
Guelph plan to start a new program that
will help to pin point problem weeds.
Called "Weed Alert," this program will
call on people who encounter unusual
weeds to report the details to the Pest
Diagnostic and Advisory Clinic, located
at the University of Guelph.
Information received can be stored on a
computer to provide up-to-dae records of
the incidence of particular weed species in
a certain area and information on iden-
tification and control can be sent back to
the correspondent.
Bad seed
to be withdrawn
Agricdlture Canada has askea seed
companies to withdraw from the market
hybrid corn seed found contaminated by
head smut.
Heau smut was identified in 1979 in the
Norwich -Mount Elgin area of southern
Ontario. This disease had not been
previously reported in Canada.
Head smut disease is normally soil -
borne. But in recent investigations,
THE RURAL VOICE/JUNE 1900 PG. 31