Too often, many of us overlook the fact that we might be sharing the road with agricultural equipment. Unfortunately, many of these incidents have severe outcomes for motorists and farm equipment operators alike. In fact, according to Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR) data, traffic collisions made up approximately 7% of all agriculture-related fatalities between 2003-2012.

We all know that there are inherent risks with working in agriculture. According to the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR), agriculture ranks as the fourth most hazardous industry in Canada with fatal injury rates. And in terms of absolute numbers of fatalities, there is no more dangerous occupation.

Farmers can benefit significantly from working safely. Injuries can be devastating on a personal, family, and farm level. Regardless of who is injured – the primary farmer, a family member, a child, a visitor or a worker – injuries cost dollars, productivity, and above all else, heartache.

Grain dryer upgrades have become very popular among farms looking to increase their energy efficiency. The Agriculture Clean Technology Funding Program (ACT) has green energy and energy efficiency listed as one of the top priorities for projects and more specifically, upgrading grain dryers to maximize efficiency is a category of its own.

Nobody understands farming better than farmers and nobody understands the pressures of climate change on the agriculture industry better than those working in it. This is why at Elite Agri Solutions, one of our main focuses is to help Ontario farms make the transition to a low-carbon economy for the best possible value. We want to create an environment for the development and adoption of clean technology that helps promote sustainable growth and aligns our agricultural sector with Canada’s climate goals.

In partnership with Western University’s Master of Environment and Sustainability program (MES), we recently had a report completed by five masters students on existing and emerging technologies eligible for the Agriculture Clean Technology Funding program. This report was completed as part of the MES program requirements for their consulting course.

Proper Lockout Steps

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers are responsible for the health and safety of their workers. Part of this is ensuring proper lockout procedures on farm. Lockout procedures are used to prevent injury due to contact with energy from equipment. Lockout should be used when servicing farm equipment and doing things such as cleaning, unplugging, lubricating, adjusting, or repairing machinery. No servicing should be done unless the lockout is in place.

Silos present on many farms and can pose significant farm workplace hazards. Potential accidents include falls, electrocution, entanglement in augers, and silo gas inhalation. Workers need to know safe operating procedures and what to do in the event of an incident. The key information on silo operation comes from the Silo Operator’s Manual. It provides instructions on safe operation that are essential for all workers to know. Warning signs of hazards should be placed on the silo.

A Power Take Off (PTO) transfers mechanical power between tractors and implements. Injuries from improper handling of PTO can end up being very severe. Fast rotation, operator error, and improper guarding make PTOs hazardous farm equipment. Appendages can get caught in an open PTO and result in amputation, severe lacerations, multiple fractures, spine and neck injuries, complete body destruction, or even fatality. Injury can be caused by a person getting entangled in an open PTO, which can be as simple as a string from clothing, a hooded sweater or jacket, or even a loose strand of hair. As the object wraps around the PTO shaft and it starts moving faster the victim can become pulled directly into the PTO unit.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act employers are required to provide information, instruction, and supervision to protect the health and safety of workers. Included as part of this obligation is information, instruction, and supervision on potentially hazardous confined spaces, work areas that may contain hazardous gases, and the appropriate procedures for working in these situations. For these situations, a written plan to protect workers should be developed and communicated to workers to protect their safety.

Mandated Posters

The Ontario government has mandated that workplaces put up posters to inform workers and employees on their rights and other information that is needed in the workplace. The mandates are designed to improve workplace safety, which is especially important in agriculture and farming.

Heat Exhaustion

Working outside in hot temperatures creates the risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Heat exhaustion is precursor to heat stroke, so it is important to recognize the symptoms to prevent the escalation. It is caused by water and salt loss through extreme sweating. Learning the symptoms and treatment for heat exhaustion is important for workers to be able to protect their health and safety.

There are 6 farm workplace hazards. They include: biological, chemical, physical, ergonomic, psychological, and safety hazards. Workers need to be able to identify these hazards to ensure they understand farm safety and are able to protect their own health and safety. Biological hazards are substances produced by living organisms that pose a health risk. Examples include COVID 19, Lyme disease, and rabies. Chemical hazards are chemicals that pose health risks. Examples include pesticides, fuels, and decaying manure.

Accident Prevention

The majority of accidents that occur when transporting livestock are caused by driver fatigue. They are typically single vehicle accidents that occur at night. One of they key measures to avoid fatigue is to ensure you get enough sleep at night. Health professionals recommend at least 7.5 hours of sleep at night. If you feel you are unable to get enough sleep, you could work with your employer to adapt your schedule.

Rights and Responsibilities on Farm

The Occupational Health and Safety Act outlines the rights of all workers in Ontario. They include: the right to know, the right to participate, and the right to refuse. The right to know is that workers have the right to know about any potential hazards they may be exposed to in the workplace. It includes that they should be informed and instructed how to protect their safety. This also includes health and safety relating to the use of machinery and equipment, substances, and working conditions.

Violence and harassment in the workplace are serious issues, not just for the work environment but they can also have legal ramifications. They are an important part of farm safety and a positive work culture. Having preventative measures to keep them from happening is important for protecting your workers and being able to identify when these situations are occurring is necessary to promote a positive work environment. Just because violence and harassment are not as visible as physical injury does not make them any less important for worker safety. Violence and harassment incidents are just as important as on-farm injuries and should be treated with the same urgency and procedure.

There are three areas of management practices that need to be addressed to ensure safe pork handling.
The first management area is herd health. Herd health is important because it is related to animal management, which is a requirement of Pig SAFE. It is essential to have a veterenarian-client relationship as they are responsible for addressing herd health concerns and must be familiar with the herd. The veternarian is responsible for keeping herd vaccinations up-to-date and administering drugs to the herd. Keeping updated herd medical records is one of the key health management practices.

Safe pork handling is an essential part of ensuring farm and animal safety. Pig SAFE is based off HACCP. HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. It relates to pork handling because it is a preventative approach to food safety. It involves identifying biological, chemical, and physical hazards throughout the production process.

The Highway Traffic Act (HTA) says that a driver’s license is not required to drive a tractor on, along, or across a road. The only requirement is the driver be at least 16 years old. Although the requirements for driving are fairly relaxed, there are many important safety issues that must be considered while operating farm equipment on off-farm roadways.

Since Canada is a participating member in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) -which is a free trade agreement between Canada and 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific aiming to limit trade barriers between the country members-, Canadian chicken, turkey and egg producers have been experiencing significant losses and obstacles. CPTPP covers all aspects of trade in order to limit or even remove barriers between the participating countries, which is reducing the competitive advantage of local Canadian products over other imported ones.

In response to market concessions made under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Government of Canada has announced compensation for broiler hatching eggs producers. This compensation comes in the form of: the ‘Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program’.

In response to market concessions made under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Government of Canada has announced compensation for egg producers. This compensation comes in the form of the ‘Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program’.

In response to market concessions made under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Government of Canada has announced compensation for chicken farmers. This compensation comes in the form of two funding programs: the ‘Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program’ and the ‘Market Development Program for Turkey and Chicken’.

In response to market concessions made under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Government of Canada has announced compensation for turkey farmers. This compensation comes in the form of two funding programs: the ‘Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program’ and the ‘Market Development Program for Turkey and Chicken’.

Finding a suitable water supply at the proposed building site should come before any other actions. A good quality ground water source is generally the most economical source of water.

Whether drawing from a surface or ground source, maximum usage without a permit to take water is 379,000 L/day for livestock watering, and an additional 50,000 L/day for non-animal consumption uses.

According to an OMAFRA specialist, only a handful of livestock producers in the province would come close to this limit, however if you estimate that you will be over this requirement then you will need a permit from the ministry of environment and must have a full hydrogeological survey completed. Famers who exceed the 379,000 L/day maximum and who are on the boundary of a drainage basin, (i.e. their farms drain into two different great lakes) will have to abide by the International Great Lakes Charter. Despite these exceptions, a livestock producer may still be required to obtain a permit if you are impacting neighboring wells or the nearby environment. This is because existing water users in Ontario take precedent over new or proposed uses. This means that if your well is already established and a new water taking activity in the area affects you, the issue can be reported to the Ministry of The Environment by calling the Spills Action Centre 1-866-663-8477

Information regarding locates can only be shared with those who applied for it. Either the property owner, general contractor or excavator can have the responsibility of getting utilities located. It is of utmost importance that this responsibility is clearly outlined in the contract so that utilities are marked in a timely fashion.

The outcome of the locate will specify conditions (if any) regarding how the dig will be carried out.

One Call does not locate private infrastructure such as buried branch or service conductors, buried water distribution lines, buried gas distribution lines, septic systems and private wells. This infrastructure must be located by private service providers (hence the importance of mapping out what you install in the first place).

Elite Agri Solutions strives to provide background information on topics which are hard to research. In cases where no reputable print resources were available for us to reference, we interviewed industry experts, so it is inevitable that the contents of this document will contain inaccuracies and bias. Use this as a resource to help you ask the right questions, not as a source of definitive answers. Elite Agri Solutions and its employee will not be responsible for the consequences of any decision made based on this guide. Where text or data has been copied directly, the sources have been noted, otherwise it can be assumed that all the information in this guide has only been curated by Elite Agri Solutions and is not our original property.

Elite Agri Solutions strives to provide background information on topics which are hard to research. In cases where no reputable print resources were available for us to reference, we interviewed industry experts, so it is inevitable that the contents of this document will contain inaccuracies and bias. Use this as a resource to help you ask the right questions, not as a source of definitive answers. Elite Agri Solutions and its employee will not be responsible for the consequences of any decision made based on this guide. Where text or data has been copied directly, the sources have been noted, otherwise it can be assumed that all the information in this guide has only been curated by Elite Agri Solutions and is not our original property.

It’s all about the maps!

Google “Ontario Source Protection” and go to the Source Protection Information Atlas to see all the Source Water Protection mapping for Ontario.

Source Water applies ONLY to Municipal well supplies.

The province of Ontario is divided into 19 Source Protection Regions based on watersheds – Conservation Authorities combined.

Conservation authorities currently administer with funding from Ministry of Environment Conservation and Parks the future of responsibilities are unclear with the new government. Municipalities oversee implementing local Source Protection Plans and relevant policies. Some Conservation Authorities do this on behalf of municipalities.

Trusses should be booked 4 months in advance to ensure that they are on site in a timely manner. Usually at this time it is enough to supply the basic building dimensions if finalized drawings are not available at this time. trusses are designed independently of building.

A preliminary design is made by the truss company with pricing, and this takes about3 days). Then, the drawings are sent to an engineer at the truss plate manufacturer, who does the final draft of the drawings and stamps them. This takes about one day. , yYou should plan for a week of design work before production can even begin.

In total, it will take 12 days for the truss design to be finalized.The truss company does not need to see the engineered drawing, (some farm buildings don’t require engineered drawings  anyways).  Truss systems from a truss manufacturer will be engineered, regardless of the size of the building.

Some two-tier municipalities have one tier take responsibility for all municipal road work. Others share responsibilities. Each municipality will have their own rules, but here is information for the Municipality of West Elgin and the County of Elgin,  provided as an example.

Pre-cast panels are panels that are built to a specification in steel forms inside a factory. Cut-outs from windows, doors and ventilation are typically already blocked out in the form and the pattern is re-used many times. Typically, the walls are formed as panels in the horizontal position. Once completed, the panels are trucked to the construction site for installation.

Concrete can be cast in place using modular forms that are erected to form a vertical shell exactly where the wall is desired, the form is stripped off the concrete after it has cured sufficiently. Forms are typically made from lumber and coated plywood. The concrete truck brings the raw concrete to the site and pours it into the forms. Often a pump truck or conveyor truck is needed for concrete to reach parts of the form inaccessible to the chute of the concrete truck.

As the owner of a project, there are certain responsibilities that the farmer should be aware of. If a farmer is to undertake a build acting as the General Contractor, they should also be aware of the responsibilities, liabilities and implication under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In this document, the red colored text is taken directly from the Ontario Health and Safety Act, black colored text is commentary on the act. We have gleaned from the act the sections that are of interest and applicable to farmers. There may be other parts of the act that are applicable to your individual case, that we have failed to include. In any case ensure that you use this as a guide and reference the Act yourself before taking actions.

The Ontario Building Code 2012 and the National Farm Building Code 1995 regulate the construction including renovations, additions and relocation of farm buildings in Ontario. Minor Renovations are not covered under these regulations.

The Ontario building code says that a farm building is defined as a building:

Not containing a residential occupancy that is associated with and located on land devoted to the practice of farming, and the building is used essentially for the housing of equipment or livestock, or the production, storage or processing of agricultural and horticultural produce or feeds

In Ontario, construction aggregates need to be gravel that have been washed and graded to meet the standards of the Ontario Building Code. Depending on the resources in your area, gravel will either be natural gravel, which has been ground and deposited by glaciers, or quarried stone, furnace slag and recycled concrete which has been mechanically crushed.

In either case, gravel has to be screened or washed to make specific graded aggregate products.

The worksheets in this document are from OMAFRA’s Publication 833 Ventilation For livestock and Poultry Facilities. This resource is an excellent resource for troubleshooting existing or designing new ventilation. Most people don’t know that the publication exists because it is only offered in print and must be found in the bowels of the Publications Ontario Website. We would highly recommend you order a copy of the guide for yourself.

Bulk Densities of Agricultural Materials and Other Useful Equations.

These tables and equations are all copied from the National Farm Building Code of Canada. The Code can be purchased online.

The Planning Act is the overarching provincial legislation which regulates land use in Ontario. Each Municipality will have its own official plan and zoning bylaws which stipulate what is permitted in each land use area.

The ‘Farming and Food Production Protection Act’ sets standards for ‘normal farm practices’, which prevents municipalities from passing by-laws that are unreasonably restrictive on agriculture. Mapping and official plans of each municipality are available online and at the municipal office.

Lumber grading is overseen by the National Lumber Grades Authority, each mill will have their mill identification on the grade stamp along with the Grading Agency who oversaw the grading.

A lumber grade is the minimum characteristics that a piece of lumber will exhibit. If the piece of lumber is part of a bundle, the grade of the bundle guarantees the minimum standard of any single piece.

Lumber is either graded visually or mechanically to determine the quality of the lumber. Visual criteria such as knot size, grain characteristics, and defects are used as indications of the lumber’s structural properties. Mechanical properties are also used to grade, such as density that can be determined through non-destructive tests and compared to known data. Lumber that you buy at a building centre will typically be visually graded, while lumber that is used by truss manufacturers is all mechanically graded.

The Ontario Building Code outlines specifications for the type and number of nails used for when building under section 9 of the code. There are some unique connections for farm buildings built under SB-11 that aren’t described in the code, such as through bolted plate beams. Use this as a guide, and double check with the Ontario Building Code or with your chief building official.

For maximum efficiency, a solar collector that has a flat surface should always be exactly normal to the sun’s rays. This is achieved with standalone solar installations where the structure moves with the sun throughout the day. If a barn is to be used as the solar collector however, it is not so practical to change the orientation or slope of the building throughout the day. Solar collectors on a farm building may be solar panels generating electricity or solar collectors heating air or fluid. As a good compromise, most collectors are installed to face within 5o of the true south. And the angle is set to be close to the average position of the sun for that time of the year.

Covers the liability of everyone who steps foot on the site.

Covers third parties who suffer loss on the building site or because of the building process.

If a worker’s compensation policy is in effect the law says that injured workers may recover fixed insurance benefits but may not sue their employers. If you are the owner and builder, you may be considered the employer.

Most of today’s new livestock barns have a need for internet connection. Most commonly it is for live camera streams or for remote monitoring and control of ventilation, heating, feeding and robotic equipment. It is important to consider how technology will be integrated when building a new barn.

Rural internet users are increasingly getting better access to internet. Each of the following connection types has its own advantages and disadvantages which are best discussed with providers in your area. For basic use, any of them will have enough speed, so the most affordable or reliable one is likely the best option.

For large projects 2-3 months of lead time is necessary. Concrete work is naturally weather dependent, so it is natural for projects to get bumped by a couple weeks as the season progresses. Account for 2 weeks from the time that topsoil is stripped to when foundation work will be completed. Account for 10 days after the last pour until backfill of the foundation can be started. After which either framing or floor finishing can proceed.

Unless timelines are pressing, it can be advantageous to complete the flatwork before framing as this gives a clean dry platform for framers to work on. Caution must be taken when the slab is still green, so account for a few days before lifts of lumber can be delivered and lifted onto the slab, and a full ten days before vehicles should be driven directly onto the slab. The longer any concrete can be left to cure before loading, the stronger it will be, and less likely to fail.

Flashing can be bent on site with a break or standard profiles can be ordered. For a barn where there will be few unique pieces, it is best to order standard profiles. Painted flashing should be ordered from the same supplier as other cladding products. Even the difference in paint between lots can become noticeable as the cladding weathers.

It should be noted that aluminum and concrete are reactive and anywhere aluminum is used in contact with concrete it should be effectively coated or separated from the masonry by an impervious membrane.

Many agricultural buildings have fixed deadlines that need to be met, whether it be season dependent ( such as getting a silo up before harvest), or contract dependent (such as placing a flock of broilers on a certain day).

It is important to ensure that you anticipate how long the build will take and account for some delays. It is equally important that any contractors are equally committed to the deadlines as well.

The best way to ensure this is by having a robust contract that details who is responsible for each component, when each component needs to be complete and what the penalties are for falling short of the contract.

This is a list of definitions which are useful while trying to understand the building code, engineered drawings and throughout the building process.

The primary functions of ventilation are to regulate temperature and to remove moisture and undesirable gases. The priority of each of these purposes must be weighed and ventilation rates adjusted according to conditions.

Each species has its own requirements, so the ventilation for a cattle barn will tailor to a much different set of needs than say a broiler barn. Despite the large differences across livestock, the fluid mechanics and heat transfer principles remain the same throughout.

If you are looking for plug and play calculations for ventilation, refer to OMAFRA’s publication 833 “Ventilation for Livestock and Poultry Facilities” we have collected the important work sheets from that document into “OMAFRA Ventilation Heating and Cooling Work Sheets”.

In its most basic form, a stud framed wall consists of vertical studs butted and fastened to a bottom and top plate all made of dimensional lumber (2×4 2×6 or 2×8). This wall will sit on a foundation wall of concrete or preserved wood and will be protected by a roof truss system attached to the wall’s top plate. Stud spacing is always either 16 inches on centre (o.c.) or 24 inches o.c. Tables are given in SB-11 for stud sizes and spacing based on the wind and roof load, for agricultural buildings under 600m2 not needing professional engineering.

If the building requires professional engineering, all building components, including studs and fasteners will be specified on the engineering drawings. To determine if your structure needs engineering or not, refer to our summary of important information from the Ontario Building Code and most importantly, refer to the Code itself to finalize any building.

Post framing differs from stud framing in that the vertical members extend from the footing right to the trusses, are typically large dimension pressure treated posts and are spaced much further apart. Post frames have a splash rail instead of a bottom plate to hold the frame rigid at ground level, and instead of a top plate for trusses to sit on, a plate beam is used. Post framed buildings are best suited to low-cost, non-insulated applications.

Much of the information summarized in this document is from OMAFRA’s Publication 833 Ventilation For livestock and Poultry Facilities. This resource is an excellent resource for troubleshooting existing or designing new ventilation. Most people don’t know that the publication exists because it is only offered in print and must be found in the bowels of the Publications Ontario Website. We would highly recommend you order a copy of the guide for yourself.

Information was also gathered from equipment manufacturers and agriculture extension agencies other than OMAFRA.

Slat floors allow manure and wastewater to pass through the floor either directly into a storage tank or a gutter system that will carry the manure away.  This reduces the amount of bedding and labour required by allowing the manure to be handled as a liquid. Slat floors that are on a deep pit system that are more than one slat wide require concrete post and beams under the floor to support the slats across the width of the barn.

Slat strength (and price) will vary depending on the intended use, hog slats will have a much lower strength requirement than a slat in a beef barn. Beef slats are sometimes designed so that they can be driven on. Typically finishing barns and beef barns are built over the storage pit (deep pit) while most dairy barns and some pig barns are built with a manure collection system and a central lagoon outside of the building.

Slats for farrowing and weaning are typically cast iron, plastic, fiberglass or rubberized steel that has narrow spacings that prevent piglet feet from becoming stuck in gaps. The surface of non-concrete slats is gentle on the sow’s skin and insulates piglets from conduction heat loss.

In order for any electrical system to be efficiently installed and of maximum value in the long term, the proper leg work must be put in by the farmer to ensure that the system meets the electrical needs of the operation today and allows for reasonable expansion in the future. The physical infrastructure requires adequate planning as well, poorly placed conduit can negatively affect airflow, and poorly placed equipment can negatively affect expansion or renovations in the future.