ECA Review - 2024-03-14

ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB March 14'24 13
Salute to Agriculture / Farm Safety
Proud to Serve Our Farmers & Ranchers
Farm lifestyle is a balancing act
Cont’d from Pg 9
“The entire lifestyle is a balancing
act,” she says.
Farm kids tend to grow up fast, says
Keddy, and certain expectations are
often put on them, whether intentional
or not, because of what they grow up
around and experience.
“But even still, it is our responsibility
as parents to not put them in an
environment that could be unsafe and
to give them the tools and knowledge
necessary to keep them safe,” she
explains. “While you’re trying to
work, while you’re trying to run a
business, you’re also trying to teach
the kids the skills needed to be safe
every day on the farm. And that definitely
does take some careful and
conscious balancing.”
Maritime Ag Women’s Network
One of the outlets that Keddy has
used to help balance different priorities
has been the Maritime Ag
Women’s Network. Keddy co-founded
the Facebook group with her friend
Amy VanderHeide nearly 10 years ago
after they attended the Atlantic Farm
Women’s Conference and wanted to
stay connected with the women they
met there.
“We realized we were all going back
to our farms and
it is isolating
living on a farm,
so when you find
those connections,
it’s really
meaningful,”
Keddy explains.
“There is a need
for connection,
for information,
and advice – be it
with business,
kids, or safety.”
The need for
such a group
became clear as
its membership
grew steadily,
reaching over
1,000 members.
As Keddy
notes, it’s no
secret that agriculture
is rooted
in old traditions.
And while much
progress has
been made, many
of the traditional
expectations of
women’s role in
agriculture still
exist. The
Facebook group,
she says, has
helped highlight
the unique experiences
of farm
women.
“Safety is a
prime example of
something that
falls to women as
the traditional
caregivers and
they are the ones
most often who
are balancing the
kids with the
farm work. For
me, I did have the
interest and passion
for safety,
but that’s not the
case for everyone
and safety often
becomes a woman’s
Celebrating
responsibility regardless of their
interest in it,” explains Keddy. “It’s an
immense amount of pressure, and
when you’re working stressed is when
accidents happen and things get
missed.”
While individual experiences will
differ depending on location and commodity,
Keddy points out that women
in agriculture share many similar
barriers, challenges, and stressors.
“The Facebook group has helped a
lot of women to realize they are not
alone and that there are other people
in the same situation as them. And
that can really make a world of a difference
to someone,” she explains.
There’s no question that raising kids
on a farm can bring many stressors
and unknowns. However, despite the
challenges, it’s a lifestyle that Keddy
says she would never change. But she
notes that the lifestyle comes with a
responsibility that she and her husband
share to instill safety in the next
generation.
“The bottom line is that we want
them to grow up knowing that safety
really has to be your number one priority,”
says Keddy. “Because without
it, you may not have a farm.”
CASA raises awareness about the
importance of safety through Canadian
STETTLER
FLOORING
& Paint
Box 278, #2, 4707-42 St., Stettler, AB T0C 2L0
Phone 403-742-5813
shane@stettlerflooring.com
Box 178, Coronation
Alberta, CANADA
T0C 1C0
PHONE: (403) 578-3810
FAX: (403) 578-3041
PLANT MANAGER: Glen Hartel
• Paint
• Carpet,
Vinyl,
Hardwood,
Laminate,
Tile
• Blinds
Farm Health & Safety Week
Think Safety First, It Saves Lives.
5002-50 Ave, Castor, AB
403-882-3950
Fax 403-882-3555
Agricultural
Safety Week
(CASW), the
third week of
March.
Family Owned and Operated
4606-40St. Stettler, AB • 403.742.2869
www.jtautobody.ca Serving Stettler and Area since 1974
We appreciate
and salute you.
REG 1974
Calf
Shelters
$
1,649 99
Stettler Building Supplies Ltd.
Stettler Building Supplies Ltd.
Make use of your windows.
Valleymere Angus
For power outages, emergency power
troubles and service requests, contact
the distribution system operator for
FENN REA: ATCO Electric
Phone toll-free: 1-800-668-2248
FENN RU
ELECTRIFICAT
ASSOCIAT
Tips Annual for Spring Cleaning and C
General Meeting
Monday, March 25
Spring can be an erratic season but your windows can
help equalize the temperature. Leave your blinds/drape
open when it’s colder so the sunlight can warm up you
home and close them when it is warmer.
7:30pm at Big Valley Legion Hall
Main Street, Big Valley, Alberta
Change the direction of airflow on your ceiling fan.
For more In winter, information let the fan please push warm contact air down towards the
Jolena floor. Hullmann This means at 403-323-0738 the fan is rotating or clockwise. In spring
when fennrea@gmail.com
dusting those fan blades, switch the direction
(set the fan to rotate counter clockwise) and draw air
upwards, cooling the room and ensuring constant
airflow.
Turn that fan off when you leave.
SHELTER Your Investment
Fans don’t actually cool down the room, they create a
wind chill effect on the skin. Leaving your fan on when
you aren’t in the room just moves the air around; it doe
not cool.
Check the fridge’s door seal.
Your refrigerator uses up to 11% of your home’s energy
so make sure the seals on your refrigerator and freeze
doors are clean and tight.
New Look!
Clean the sliding door track now that the
weather is warmer.
If your home has a sliding glass door, clean out the
track. Dirt and grit in the track can ruin the door’s seal
and create gaps where heat or cold air can escape.
4201-49 th Ave., Stettler, AB
Close the flue. 403 743 0684
When www.stettlerbuildingsupplies.ca
cleaning out your fireplace after a winter of cozy
fires, make sure you close the flue (damper) because
heat rises and the chimney is the fastest way out durin
colder nights.
SPADY
Black Angus Yearling Bulls
FOR SALE
403-740-3652 Travis
403-741-2840 Ty
Travis &
Halley
SPADY
Alliance, AB
Box 31,F
Phone
1-4
Email: fe
ww