Press Releases
Kentucky Department of Agriculture intern James Edington uses the KDA’s one-of-a-kind rollover tractor simulator to show Bart Thompson of Crestwood, right, and his son, Wyatt, what happens during a rollover accident without a rollover protective structure during the Kentucky Farm Fest July 11 in Crestwood. The rollover tractor simulator will be on display at the Tennessee Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference later this month. (Kentucky Department of Agriculture photo)
Kentucky will give farm safety demonstration at Tennessee young farmers conference
For Immediate Release
Friday, July 17, 2015
For more information contact:
Ted Sloan
(502) 564-1138
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky will show off its nationally-renowned farm safety program at the Tennessee Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference July 24-25 in Columbia, Tennessee.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Farm & Home Safety Program will join employees of the Kentucky State Fire Commission to demonstrate the KDA’s one-of-a-kind rollover tractor simulator and staff exhibits on all-terrain vehicle safety and rescue, grain bin safety and rescue, power takeoff safety, and lawn mower safety. The Kentucky contingent will take along the popular Kids Kab, in which children can sit behind the wheel of a refurbished tractor cab.
“Our Farm & Home Safety Program is second to none,” Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said. “We’ve exhibited in several states, and we’ve advised agriculture departments in other states that wanted to start farm safety programs of their own. We’re pleased to work with our friends at the State Fire Commission to spread the word about the importance of farm safety to our neighbors in Tennessee.”
The Farm & Home Safety Program exhibited at the conference in 2004 and at the Milan No-Till Field Day in western Tennessee that same year. Program staff have exhibited at the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, Georgia, and at major agriculture events in other states.
Program Administrator Dale Dobson and program employees present demonstrations and rescues of mock accidents to schools, civic groups, and other organizations all over Kentucky. Local emergency responders and medical flight services help with the rescues to demonstrate their skills while gaining valuable farm rescue training.
Kentucky recorded 14 farming-related fatalities in 2014, the Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program reported. That compares to 50 agricultural fatalities in 1995, the highest number in the past 20 years.
