Behind the Lines - April 2008

A three-paragraph story in a local newspaper pointed senior staff editor Don Stoneman to this month’s tragic cover story. A young man farming north of Guelph in Mapleton Township had been very badly injured when struck by a large bale that fell off his loader.
That short story started a week-long search for answers to questions about farm safety here in Ontario. We found out that that many farmers do exactly what this young man was doing.

They move three bales at a time with a front-end loader that has a guard which protects them against only two bales. Most of these farmers get away with it. Some have close calls as bales precariously perched on loaders fall off. Our story, all too illustrative of the risks that farmers take, starts on page 12.

Better Farming - April 2008