Too many people are dying on Canadian farms

It’s a sad precedent, but a necessary one; the father of a 4-year-old boy killed after falling from farm equipment, convicted of criminal negligence causing death and handed a suspended sentence.

Emanuel Bauman clearly didn’t intend to cause his son’s death by letting him ride in a skid-steer bucket as he pulled wood chips, but it’s not surprising such reckless equipment use ended tragically. I’ve seen it before. First growing up on a farm in southern Ontario, later working on farms and finally reporting on agriculture, the bodies kept piling up. If you’re looking for a dangerous career, forget policing and skip firefighting — farming is a deadly business in this country.

Between 2003 and 2012, there were 843 agriculture-related fatalities in Canada, according to Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting. Sixty-seven of those fatalities were males under the age of14, just like Bauman’s son.

Farm fatalities have decreased in recent years, but some in the agricultural industry speculate the drop has more to do with a decrease in the number of people farming and not improved farm practices. Just this spring, a 3-yearold boy died on a cattle farm near Fort Macleod, Alta., after falling from a small tractor.

But rarely does the media or farm community view these deaths as teachable moments. Out of compassion for families, the focus turns to the positive events that follow farm fatalities. We talk about how the community pulled together and where to donate, but we don’t often discuss what needs to change or how a death could have prevented.

Many farmers also balk at the idea of greater regulation. When the Alberta government introduced Bill 6, which aimed to increase on-farm safety, producers blocked a highway in protest.

Canadian producers, quite rightly, do not want to be seen as overallwearing bumpkins. Farmers use precision technology, train as agronomists or market analysts — they want the world to see them as the highly skilled business owners they are.

But when it comes to safety, some farmers don’t seem to see themselves as operators of complex businesses. The idea of the family farm is a comforting one, and indeed many Canadian farms are multi-generational family-owned corporations that combine home life with primary production. But it’s also an idea that, at times, provides cover for lax safety protocols and inadequate regulation.

Bauman’s case brings the gravity of on-farm fatalities into sharp focus. His conviction is a clear message that, ultimately, farms are businesses and their operators cannot be above the law, however tragic the circumstance. This is where a new discussion about farm safety must begin.

Yes, farming is a unique way of life. But it can’t continue to be one that so frequently ends in death.