FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 26, 2012
For more information contact:
Ted Sloan
(502) 564-1138

 

Kentucky Ag Department safety expert will share 'Life, Death, and Reality' message

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A state farm safety expert will encourage guests to make safe choices in a presentation Monday night.

Dale Dobson, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Farm and Home Safety Program administrator, will deliver his “Life, Death, and Reality” message and slide presentation Monday at 7 p.m. CST at the Calloway County High School Agriculture Department in Murray.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said safety programs like this one can save lives.

“Farming is an honorable and rewarding profession, but it can pose some serious safety concerns,” Commissioner Comer said. “One moment of inattention can leave a farmer injured or worse, and it can create a hardship for the whole family. The Department’s program raises awareness regarding the dangers facing our farmers today and assists them in making safe choices.”

“Having grown up on a family-operated dairy and tobacco farm in Fancy Farm, I have seen first-hand the dangers involved in being around farm machinery and cattle,” said Mark Wilson of Hutson Inc., the John Deere dealership in Mayfield, which will partner with the Department on the farm safety program. “If Hutson and John Deere can help save one life or prevent one mishap, it will be worth our while to work with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to promote safety on the farm and in the home.”

The program will be hosted by the Calloway County Young and Adult Agriculture Program.  The public is invited.

The Calloway County Young and Adult Agriculture Program offers classes and meetings on various agriculture-related topics for members of the Calloway County Young Farmers Association, other local farmers, and the general public. Tim Lax is the adult agriculture instructor and advisor for the local YFA chapter.

The Farm and Home Safety Program travels to every county in Kentucky to deliver safety messages to schools, farm groups, civic organizations, and others. The program operates a one-of-a-kind rollover tractor simulator, which demonstrates the correct use of a rollover protective structure (ROPS) on a tractor, and a miniature grain bin and wagon. The program will host a display at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville in February.