Transiting through the Panama Canal was quite a unique experience! We sailed through the two sets of gates, filled with rivets that slowly opened. This transit took one day, and in passing through, we had crossed over from the Pacific side to the Atlantic side of the world. The lock itself was quite impressive, especially considering it was constructed almost 100 years ago. There are 3 locks, each with either 2 or 3 sets of gates in each. It was like walking up and over a bridge as the Pacific locks brought us higher and the Caribbean locks brought us back down. What an amazing feat of engineering! There were workers that walk along the edge of the lock. They have lines with weights at the ends of them that they sling onto the boats. We then attach our lines to theirs and they anchor us to the sides. As the water fills or empties, we adjusted the lines accordingly. This is another experience that I will never forget, and am happy to be able to share this with you! Unfortunately our communication system broke down at the end of the last Race, so we had to navigate and be in touch with Clipper via the Radar and satellite phones. It was quite difficult for me to have no communication, and in some ways I felt cut off from the world and the people I loved back home. My friends and family had written me letters and notes for each day of my journey, so those became a lifeline and irreplaceable encouragement. After a few day’s stay in Panama, we are now back on board, and I am happy to say that our communication system is up and running once more. We’re now motoring to a given point off the coast, where we will do a Le Mans race start at sea. I am so excited about this, and will tell you all about it in my next blog!

As part of a worldwide AGCO initiative, AGWN (AGCO Global Women’s Network) was officially launched in Australia last month.

Children are naturally curious, especially younger children. And there are a lot of things to be curious about on the farm! But that curiosity can unknowingly lead them into dangerous places. A safe play area is a great way to ensure the safety of kids on the farm. Here are a few tips to help you establish a safe play area.

• Separated from traffic and work areas.

• Easily identifiable boundaries. Fences are ideal.

• An area easily supervised, such as looking out a back window.

• Free from dangerous debris.

• Plenty of room to run and explore.

• Safe and age-appropriate play equipment.

A fence provides a terrific boundary for safe play areas. Ron and Arianne Henry of Versailles, Ohio won a $250 Successful Farming Farm Family grant to help cover the costs. Farm Safety 4 Just Kids awards $250 to ten farm families to conduct safety projects on their farm. Email Shari Burgus, education director for more information.

If you can’t fence the play area, use landmarks: a tree, a bush, a pole, a driveway. Walk the boundary with your children. Explain the boundary is important because it keeps them safe, and go over any consequences of breaking the boundary rule. Keep in mind the boundary is only the first line of defense. Supervision is critical, and not just for play areas without a fence.

Give children reasons to stay in the identified play area. Provide appropriate play items, such as swings, a sand box, or playhouse, which make the play area appealing to children. If the farmstead is more enticing than the designated play area, your efforts may not be effective.

A safe outdoor play area away from livestock, traffic and machinery is essential for children to grow up safe and healthy on a farm or ranch. Let’s keep our next generation of rural children safe!

For more information on farm safety, or to learn how to start a chapter, visitwww.fs4jk.org.
*This post was submitted by Tracy Schlater from Farm Safety 4 Just Kids

Massey Ferguson distributors and dealers from all over Europe converged on Wroclaw, Poland for the latest Big Red training event.

Do you ever have issues with your Bluetooth head set not getting the best reception, even though your phone is in your pocket?!? Have you ever had your smart phone run out of batteries before your day is over? Are you worried about other people accessing information you are transmitting between your devices via Bluetooth or Wifi? Below you will find  Pros and Cons of the two different ways for devices to communicate with each other.

For wireless machine to machine communication – Bluetooth is the easiest and least expensive way for seamless communication. Bluetooth is secure as you have to “pair” the devices before they can communicate with each other. Bluetooth also takes up less energy to connect, thus saving a little more battery life on your smartphone. It is restrictive in distance, 10 meters, which is great for driving your pick up down the road, but what about combines communicating with each other in the field? Bluetooth has been around since 1994 and recently has been making leaps in bounds for stronger wireless communication.

Wireless Fidelity a.k.a Wi-Fi is available at almost every street corner, rural café, and truck repair shop. Does Wi-Fi have a chance in taking over what Bluetooth has been building on for almost 20 years? Wi-Fi was introduced 3 years before Bluetooth, but began with different use cases. Wi-Fi is more complex than Bluetooth and requires configuration of hardware and software, Wi-Fi will also soak up more of your precious battery life. Both communicate over a 2.4 GHz frequency level; Wi-Fi is more expensive but can also communicate of distances up to 100 meters. Have you thought of using Wi-Fi for a connection between two devices, but not for the internet? With a few extra steps, this could be the answer to your problems of needing a longer distance base for wireless communication.