Online barn fire prevention tool launched by Equine Guelph

Sep 28, 2016

Tool can help barn owners assess safety concerns

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

In the first half of 2016, many Ontario farms battled barn fires. In the process, the farmers lost assets and had to face rebuilding decisions.

Some of these fires occurred in horse barns, so Equine Guelph has developed an online tool to help owners assess their barns for safety concerns.

The Barn Fire Prevention tool asks farmers 20 questions about their barns. The questions are accompanied by photos to give farmers a real look at potential safety issues.

Barn fire tool
Equine Guelph's online barn fire prevention tool.
Photo: Equine Guelph

The tool also allows farmers to assess the inside and outside of their barns to ensure the area is safe.

"If you have a farm, you have combustibles that need to be stored properly, electrical wiring that requires proper installation and maintenance and a host of appliances that may or may not be safe for use," Gayle Ecker, director of Equine Guelph, said in a release. "The key to reducing the risk of fire is education focusing on prevention.”

The tool also links to resources including the leading causes of barn fires, principles of safety and barn design, and recorded interviews with expers that can help farmers navigate safety in their barns.

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.