We ran over it with a 46,460-pound truckload of flour. We shot it with a 25.06 deer rifle. We submitted it to the pressure of a forklift loaded with Western Producers.
Our new sign, shown above, emerged with a bullet hole and a few dents, but it stood up to field testing.
So now we’re ready to offer it to you.
The discovery of clubroot in some prairie canola fields prompted design of this sign. The fungus that causes clubroot is easily spread via vehicle traffic and almost impossible to control. It is one more challenge along the way to producing a crop.
Read Also
Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts
As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?
But how do farmers make people aware of the problem?
It is our hope that they will find this sign useful to erect at field entrances as a friendly reminder to visitors that people can inadvertently bring unwanted pests to farm fields. And that can affect the quality and quantity of food that farmers grow.
The signs are six inches by 12 inches and made of two prepainted aluminum sheets that sandwich a solid polyethylene core.
They are hole-punched, top and bottom, so they can be easily attached to posts or gates using wire, twine, nails or whatever is handy in the pickup. The blank space in the sign’s lower middle is for a phone number that people can call for information or entry permission.
Some agrologists and fieldmen in central and northern Alberta have been given these signs to distribute immediately where clubroot spread is at greatest risk. These experts have given positive feedback.
“It’s a neat idea that heightens the importance of agriculture production in general,” said Curtis Henkelmann, a farmer and manager of agricultural services in Leduc County. He is hopeful the signs will make people stop and think about field entry and its connection with food.
The generic message makes the signs suitable for most fields. We weren’t able to subject the signs to the -40 C and +40 C temperatures they will see in a typical year, but we’re fairly certain they will last awhile.
You can get one at the Western Canada Farm Progress Show in Regina June 18-20 and at various field days on the Prairies this summer. They can also be ordered directly from the Producer.
