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Petting Zoos A tree farm may offer petting zoos for adults and children who are not accustomed to being around farm animals. In most cases these are live- stock animals of cows, hogs, sheep, chickens, maybe goats and turkeys. My observation is that most of these animals do not care to be touched and can be alarmed by a sudden sur- prise. Proper fencing is needed to protect the visitors and animals alike from an unpredicted move on the animal’s part. Dogs or no Dogs? Another issue to consider is to allow or not allow dogs on to your farm. Personally, I do not allow dogs, leashed or not on my property. I had a bad experience several years ago when two different customers dogs almost got out of control with each other. Especially with young children it can be a frightening experience. My observation is most dogs are rambunctious, loudly barking and sometimes growling and of course the customer does not consider to clean their messes. If your policy is not to allow dogs or any other type pet on your property, you should strictly enforce it. School Groups Tree farms can be a good educational tool for school age children. I have had several groups over the years but nowadays I get no requests for such. If there are a large group it is hard to keep their attention. I endorse the idea but a staff needs to be on duty. For safety procedures, a waiver has to be signed to release the farm from any claims made as a result of an injury. When I taught and went on field trips with my students, a waiver had to be signed by all students to release the college of any accident. Allowing school groups onto your farm helps advertise your operation.

Word gets out and many locals will find out what it is about. Chain Saws or Bow Saws? Common sense should tell any farm owner not to allow customers to bring their chain saws. This is a huge liability waiting to happen. If cus- tomer chooses a very large tree and the trunk is more than a bow saw can cut, then a chain saw is necessary, but it is I who will do the honors to keep the customer safe. Although bow saws are provided, many will bring their own and this would be acceptable. Last year a customer used his own bow saw and cut him- self and needed medical attention. Here, no fault on the owner, but the customer paid the price. There are other issues that could be covered such as food safety if this is part of the tree farm experience. On this topic the state health department gets involved and this can be no fun when that happens. The topic of farm safety is broad and covers a lot of territory. To limit lia- bility, it is important to make farm safety a non-negotiable priority for yourself and your employees. Be proactive and go out to search for and remove the hazards that may be known or unknown. Routine inspec- tions on hay rides, petting zoos and the like will go a long way to cover yourself of any liability. A plan of operation is helpful to identify haz- ards and have strategic plan to over- come those hazards. One of the worst cases could be a tragedy on a tree farm during the selling season. Any tragedy will be hard to overcome and the unpleasant memory can never be forgotten. By Tommy Naylor, VCTGA Director and owner/operator of North Lake Christmas Tree & Nursery, Benson, NC, te- naylor07@embarqmail.com

CTPB (Christmas Tree Promotion Board) Checkoff Support, Research & Marketing – Della Deal (VCTGA’s representative and chair of the CTBP Research Committee) gave an update noting that the recent referendum passed 51-49% and there will now be another referendum in 2019. $1.8 million dollars was raised in 2017, and there is $200,000 availa- ble for research. She encouraged members to take advantage of the national marketing program “It’s Christmas, Keep It Real” At a recent meeting of the CTPB, a major management decision was made. Marsha Gray will be the sole general manager of that organization starting next month. She will no longer be working with Tim O’Connor and Associates. NCTA and CSF are still under contract with Tim O’Connor’s group. Only CTPB will be leaving. We want to thank Marsha for her total dedication to the Christ- mas Tree Industry. We know the extensive bounds of her many talents and her seeming- ly endless energy. We wish her the best as she pursues this new endeavor in her career to promote the real Christmas tree. As for NCTA and CSF, we will be managed by the most capable team of Tim and Ann O’Connor. Not having the obligation to pro- vide service to the CTPB, they feel confident that they can provide us with a professional, tailor made service, to provide our industry with the needed guidance into the next dec- ade. Paul Schroeder, NCTA President CTPB & NCTA Management Changes

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VCTGA News Journal – Fall 2018

VCTGA News Journal ‒ Fall 2018

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