Thanks to a $650,000 donation from Agrium, Agriculture for Life is undertaking its largest safety initiative — the Rural and Farm Safety Mobile Unit.

The unit is a trailer with educational displays, and will be taken to rural schools, communities, fairs, and other events around North America to educate, encourage and promote farm safety to students and farm families. It will be used to highlight many hazards faced on the farm such as large equipment, water, grain, overhead power lines and underground infrastructure. It will also provide educational information around mitigating these and other risks.

The unit will be designed so its content can be tailored to various audiences and expanded as needed. Digital applications will be utilized and allow for content sharing with like-minded organizations around the world.

“Farm safety is a priority for us at Agrium, and we are proud to work with Ag for Life and provide $650,000 capital funding for the development of this Mobile Safety Unit,” said Leslie O’Donoghue, Agrium’s executive vice-president for corporate development and strategy and chief risk officer.

The goal is to have the mobile safety unit on the road and attending events by September 2017. Ag for Life is currently seeking matched operational funding from additional sponsors in order to maximize program reach.