It’s that time of year again that is very familiar in Whitewater Region and surrounding townships.
That time of year when farm implements travel area highways, byways and back roads.
While our roads don’t seem to be increasing in width, the farm machinery is getting wider and taller.
The tractors may be getting faster, but they can still not go as fast as a vehicle.
And that wider, taller farm macinery, such as a combine, certainly can’t travel a fast speed.
They lumber along at about 10 to 20 kilometres per hour and they are as wide as, if not wider than, their own half of the road.
Driving those tractors and machinery are our fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, neighbours, aunts, uncles, cousins, classmates and friends.
When you come up behind a slow-moving vehicle, don’t be in such a rush to get around it. Did you know if you go around a slow-moving vehicle and get into a crash, that accident is your responsibility, not the driver of the slow-moving vehicle.
Take a breather. Ease your foot off the gas pedal.
We want everyone to arrive home alive. Our farmers put in long days so you can have food on your table. Many farmers have already put in a day’s work prior to heading to the field to do more work. It’s not every farmer who has the luxury of staying on the farm to make a living for his family.
For many farmers who have off-farm jobs, it’s because they have no choice. They would rather be in the fields throughout the day, enjoying the smell of the earth beneath them — but that opportunity is not always provided to them.
So, when you see those tractors and farm machinery on the roads, slow down and don’t be in such a hurry.
