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Farm safety goes full circle with ‘Field of the Future’ recipient

Apr 10, 2015 | 6:26 AM

For the third year the ‘Field of the Future’ is growing a crop with the proceeds going into the pocket of a local organization.

In November of 2014 Redhead Equipment purchased Moker & Thompson and decided to continue the Field of the Future initiative started in 2013.  This year employees chose Buckland Fire and Rescue to be the recipient.

Arron McLean, sales manager at Redhead Equipment in Prince Albert, said Buckland Fire and Rescue is a great choice, especially because their work helps the farming industry in a way.

 “They (Buckland Fire and Rescue) do farm safety, take care of our farmers, take care of our customers, do lots of good stuff and a lot of the guys volunteer all their time out there, we just thought it would be a good cause.  You know, they’re always looking for stuff and I know they’re doing some farm safety events and training this year,” he said.

“They’re such a well-deserving group and they’re so genuinely thankful,I guess you could say, and they’re just a good group of guys out there doing a lot of things that matter to us.”

Making this all possible is Redhead Equipment, which supplies the equipment and staff to help.  Several other companies are partnering to help out with supplies and additional costs, as well.

Jim Miller, fire chief of Buckland Fire and Rescue, learned about the organization being chosen four or five weeks ago, he said.

 “We’re very proud to be chosen for it and we’re always in need of funding and we’re a private organization and we try to do as much as we can for the community,” Miller said, adding they service quite a large area.

It’s impossible to predict crop yields, Miller said they’ll put the funds toward a quad that can carry a two to four firefighters.  It’s something they’ve been eyeing for a couple of years, he said.

“We’ve looked at a side-by-side that would aid us into getting into the backwoods.  We’ve had so much rain over the past years the fields and some of the roads are terrible to try and get some of our heavier equipment down,” he said.

Miller explained this piece of equipment is helpful to get to remote areas in farming country—something customers of Redhead Equipment would find useful.

“Because they (Redhead Equipment) deal with the farm community it would be something that is kind of in the direction of farm safety and farm rescue, so that’s where we’re gearing it [the donation] toward,” he said. 

In addition, Buckland Fire and Rescue crews have a certified farm rescue course booked for training in October.

“We sure appreciate companies that try and do what they can to … help people in the community in any way they can.”

This year wheat is being planted in the Field of the Future.  The field is just less than 200 acres depending on how the sloughs dry, according to McLean.

“I think … it should be the best spring since we’ve done it,” he said, adding they’ve donated more than $70,000 over the past two years through the charitable initiative.

sstone@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @sarahstone84