Keeping safe during harvest season

Aug 11, 2015

Tips from Alberta Agriculture and Forestry

With all the machinery, tools and livestock that can be on a farm at any given time, safety is a number one priority around harvest season.

“The safety conversation around ‘no one gets hurt’ needs to be the first conversation, first action and first thought farm owners and workers have as they go to work each day,” said Kenda Lubeck, farm safety coordinator, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Grande Prairie. “Common discussion around the plan to avoid identified hazards and work to the optimum, not necessarily the maximum, should take place early and often in the harvest season to ensure everyone makes it home safely each night.”

Alberta Agriculture and Forestry has put out some tips on how to identify hazards and the actions to take when trying to eliminate or minimize them.

Harvesting Equipment

Only allow properly trained people to operate the equipment
Ensure the equipment has been properly maintained
Make sure anyone who is out in the fields have some form of communication

Fatigue

Get enough sleep every evening
Eat foods that will keep you mentally and physically aware
Drink water to stay hydrated
Stop periodically to stretch

Moulds & Dust

Have the correct and clean air filters in place when operating machinery
Wear safety goggles and dust masks if necessary
Stop periodically to get some fresh air

Safety can be something that gets taken for granted but in the blink of an eye it can become a very real issue that needs to be addressed.

Join the conversation and tell us the kinds of safety measures you employ on your farm during harvest season.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.