Farmers Sharing The Highway With Motorists

It’s the last long weekend of the summer and highways will be busy.

 

It’s also important to remember it’s a busy time for farmers as they work on bringing in the harvest.

 

Motorists are being reminded to stay alert and watch for slow-moving farm equipment.

 

Tyler McMurchy is with SGI and says August is when most collisions involving farm equipment tend to occur noting it’s important to be aware and stay focused on the road and what’s happening

 

“Farm equipment is very slow-moving so if you find yourself behind it, I think our Number 1 tip is to just be patient, give it plenty of space, reduce your speed accordingly and pass when it is safe to do so. You know farm equipment is often much wider and longer than a typical vehicle you’d find on the road even longer than a semi-trailer. So, you may want to give yourself that room, that space to safely pass.”

 

McMurchy says farmers also need to make sure their equipment meets road requirements:

 

“If your operating a piece of machinery at 40 kilometers per hour or slower that equipment must have on it an attached rear centered slow-moving vehicle sign. Depending on the size of the vehicle it also needs to be equipped with either flashing amber lights or flags.”

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.