Science winner
A 4-H member from Kitchener, Ont., took first place for her dairy barn cleaning invention at the Canada Wide Science Fair in Fredericton, N.B., last month.
Charlene Elliott’s Lugano 100 barn scraper for free stall dairy barns automates the process of cleaning manure out of alleyways without disturbing the cows’ bedding areas. The add-on to existing scraper systems can be angled to push sand into the alley, where it is picked up by the scraper.
Earlier this year, Elliot won first place in the individual category of the first ever 4-H Canada science and technology contest.
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Elliott, whose family operates a 90 cow dairy, helps with milking, bookkeeping, calf registration, attends dairy evaluation clinics, participates in dairy judging and is a member of the Brown Swiss Association.
Farm Safety program
The Barnyard and Boots rural and farm safety program is expected to reach more than 1,400 rural students in Alberta’s County of Grande Prairie this year.
Grade 4 students will rotate through safety stations, see demonstrations and participate in interactive sessions. Topics include animal safety, dugout and water safety, chemical, grain and machinery safety.
Presented by Grande Prairie and Area Safe Communities and Agriculture for Life, the free program helped 1,000 students develop farm safety skills in 2014 when it was launched.
Founding members include Agrium Inc., ATB Financial, ATCO Group, Penn West, Rocky Mountain Equipment, TransCanada Corporation and UFA Co-operative Ltd. Contributing members : AdFarm and Glacier FarmMedia, Bayer CropScience and Co-operators Group.
