Trespassers create risk to agriculture system. Ottawa-Running a farm is challenging enough without producers having to worry about trespassers entering their property illegally to protest how animals and poultry are treated, says Ontario Conservative MP Alex Ruff (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound). Farmers are already stressed by the ongoing changes in agriculture that wear on their mental health, Ruff said in the Commons during debate on a bill to make it an offence to enter a farm without bring invited. Farmers already have to cope with everything from climate change to market volatility, he said. “The last thing they need, and I am not trying to be provocative, is uneducated people interfering with their livelihood and their ability to put food on the table for all Canadians.” The bill, presented by Conservative ag critic John Barlow, is not only about biosecurity and ensuring our food supply and food chains are protected, Ruff said. The bill is also about educating that Canada has “some of the best farmers and people in the food industry and agricultural sector, who really take care of their animals and the food they are raising. Canadians do not have anything to be worried about.” He said his riding has the most beef production per capita in eastern Canada as well as dairy, turkey and chicken farms. During his visits to farms in his riding, “I have been impressed with how seriously they take their operations, how seriously they take the health of their animals and how clean everything is. “It is impressive to see the care they take. I think that is the essential message: It is not only about the health of the animals, but about how seriously our farmers take this.” Barlow said there have been enough instances of protestors leaving a disease behind to justify ending the trespassing. “We cannot allow this type of activity to continue if we want to protect the biosecurity not only on farms but of our food security across Canada and around the world.” He also rejected claims the bill is meant to gag opponents of animal agriculture. “That simply is not the case, and I cannot stress this enough. This would not stop protesters from protesting on public land outside of the farm, and it certainly would not stop whistle-blowers or employees on a farm from reporting issues they see that are not up to standard. In fact, those employees and the farm families themselves have a moral and legal obligation to report any poor activity that does not meet our standards.” The bill was motivated by a call from a constituent who one morning found 40 protesters in his barn trying to remove his free-range turkeys. “The stress this put the Tschetter family under is incredible, and it still goes on today. “We have heard that from farmers across Canada, who have had instances where protesters have been on their farms,” Barlow said. They are left wondering how they attracted attention. He has received many calls from farmers across Canada “asking if this was open season on farmers and whether they were not even safe on their own property. There are the mental health impacts on farmers but also the financial risk to the agriculture industry and consumers across the country.” His bill is awaiting a second reading vote and if approved, it will go to a committee for study.