[ronski]

Met the adjuster this morning, chatted for a few minutes about what fields needed checking and happened to look at his quad while he was setting the ramps up on the back of his truck. His quad was covered with mud hanging off and had canola blooms hung up everywhere on the front and winch. I asked if he had been in any clubroot fields and he said no, I thought about it for a minute and said he couldn't take it out of the truck.
I got my quad and he rode sidesaddle around the fields. He was good about it but said I was the first guy he's met that was concerned.
Really? He said they always ask landowners if they have clubroot but what if the farmer lies (they're dealing with crop insurance after all) or doesn't know they have clubroot yet. I've refused access to oilfied equipment that was way cleaner than this guys quad.

I'm astounded AFSC doesn't have a protocol for washing equipment between farmers. I understand the adjuster isn't going to wash his quad 4 times a day for free but we pay enough in premiums that an extra 30 minutes at the car wash per client shouldn't break the bank.

Next time I phone the office I will mention that any equipment that comes out must be cleaned and I must to meet them at the field to inspect before they access my land because if the guy had been riding in my crop today...

(I don't have clubroot yet but I've been growing resistant varieties and cleaning equipment since 2008 when I had a problem with a pipeline company and decided to be proactive try to keep clean)

 

[kevlar]

Good for you!!! I wish more people were as strict about clubroot as you are. I don't think many people believe or fully understand the consequences of clubroot. Luckily it's not been found in my area.... yet.

 

[712alberta]

Last year there was 3 adjusters working in the area. One guy was very very anal about everything, things being clean, counting heads, plants, measuring and kernels counts, to the point of being excessively slow. I think he actually quit, couldn't handle the stress and pressure that was put on him to perform. The second guy, he'd clean things at the start of the day, and let it ride until the end of the day and wash things up for the next day. He did a good job and understood the implications of Clubroot and other soil born contamination. And the third guy, well he had crap hanging all over his quad and truck. He only drove in the yard to see the second adjuster, and he was warned if he was going to be on our land he was going to be cleaning his quad and truck before he did any work.

So it would appear that AFSC doesn't have any real standards for equipment cleaning. If they do, some of there operators aren't following the rules. There really should be set in stone standards as to how things are cleaned, especially now that we have to worry about clubroot.

However, all there operators have to take a quad operators course, so at least they are safe while potentially spreading, crop diseases and weeds all over the country.

 

[Ben Heide]

Kudos to you for pointing this out. I think that most adjusters are pretty good, but there are a few who need some pointers.

 

[9520deere]

Good for pointing it out. Need more people to do the same. You have every right to set the standard to which people crossing your land have to follow. Its your business and at the end of the day your wallet that gets affected if the visitor introduces a new disease or weed to the land.

Am pretty picky as well about what and who crosses my crop land. Fertilizer/seed dealer have been washing truck tires down when leaving farm yards with a ammonia water solution to help stop the spread of clubroot. If someone shows up with a muddy dirty vehicle they can ride with me or go back to town and wash.

 

[offroadnt]

We don't do crop insurance so I'm going to sound like an idiot here but why do crop adjusters need quads? I wouldn't let anyone drive around in my fields period. If your worried about contamination they are not going to eliminate it by washing the outside of their vehicles, even their footware can carry contamination.

 

[doorknob]

That was a great call. We dont have insurance adjusters here for those types of insurance, but I am going to make note of what's on the quad of the agronomists from now on. Thanks for posting this story. I have only read a small bit on club root online. We cant raise canola because we are in the canola ban boundary. But we have other equipment carried issues that need to be made note of.

 

[Kurt]

custom ,sprayer ,harvester ,NH3 trucks ,dirt road when wet , duck's , elk , and so on.
Really if you think about it .....
It's only a matter of time, and yes you got it.

 

[cptusa]

I'm going to sound like an idiot here but why do crop adjusters need quads?
.

I was wondering the same. I have always ran crop insurance and have had several adjusters threw the years, last one was here three days ago. I never have had any of them show up with a quad. Drive the truck to the field and walk out in a ways.