Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116FORMED in January, the AgCoalition — short for Alberta Agri- culture Farm and Ranch Safety Coalition — is working to ensure a culture of farm safety among Alberta farmers. Formed in part by a common goal to represent the agriculture industry with a single voice as it relates to Bill 6 (the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act), this coalition is unprecedented in Alberta history, bringing together cropping and livestock producers who share a common cause. Serving as co-chair is Kent Erickson, a familiar face to many readers of the Alberta Seed Guide. A fourth generation farmer based in Irma, he and his father farm 4,500 acres of grains and oilseeds including hard red spring wheat, winter wheat, oats, peas, flax, barley and canola. He was chair of the Alberta Wheat Commission until January of this year, and was previously chair of the Alberta Winter Wheat Producers Commission as well. We recently caught up with Erickson to ask about the impor- tance of AgCoalition, which recently completed a province-wide consultation process that reaffirmed the agriculture community’s commitment to ensuring safe farming practices in Alberta. Alberta Seed Guide: What did the AgCoalition hear as a result of the recent consultations you hosted across the province? Kent Erickson: Farm and ranch safety has always been a focus for our industry. The main thing we heard is that safety efforts should be led by our farmers and farm groups. That will help ensure the application of practical approaches that make sense on the farm. If we can get things led by farmers and producers, that should lead to practical recommendations and a practical approach to safety at the farm and ranch level. We also heard that we need a coordinated approach in order to advance safety in Alberta. ASG: Do seed growers face any unique challenges with regard to farm safety? KE: We want seed growers to be influencers with their workers and owners. A lot of times the workers are the owners; a lot of the work being done on seed farms is done by the owners them- selves. These are the people who know we need a collaborative approach to formulate the rules. So when we have representa- tion from those sectors, there’s an understanding that unique operations require a special approach compared to a commercial grain operation, for example. Viewpoints Kent Erickson is co-chair of the Alberta Agriculture Farm and Ranch Safety Coalition. Kent Erickson is at the forefront of the effort to foster a culture of farm safety in Alberta. PuttingFarmSafetyFirst ASG: What major successes has the AgCoalition seen so far? KE: Right from our inaugural meeting, we saw representatives from across the industry come together, all wanting to focus on a collaborative approach to enhancing safety. We rarely see such a large unified voice from across the ag sector with such a cohesive message. Another enormous success is working with govern- ment to utilize this unified voice, to give support to them through the farmers represented there, and lay the groundwork for a safety strategy. It hasn’t been a year yet, and things take a lot of background work to keep this big engine going. ASG: What challenges do you see ahead? KE: The biggest challenge we see is the fact that Bill 6 covers much more ground than just farm and ranch safety — it has 108 www.seed.ab.ca | Advancing Seed in Alberta