FRANKFORT — Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles has proclaimed the week of Sept. 17-23 as Farm Safety and Health Week in Kentucky to call attention to the hazards unique to farming and encourage all Kentuckians to put safety first.

“Farming is one of the most dangerous occupations in the country,” Commissioner Quarles said. “Farmers are at risk of harm from machinery, livestock, chemicals, weather, and other hazards in the normal course of their work. Please join me in following this year’s theme – ‘Putting Farm Safety Into Practice’ – during Farm Safety and Health Week, and all year long.”

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Farm & Home Safety Program is collaborating with the FFA chapters in Carter and Russell counties to put on two “Pep Rallies for Life.” The first event will be Sept. 18 at 10 a.m. EDT at East Carter High School in Grayson for students from both county high schools – East Carter and West Carter. The second “Pep Rally” is set for Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. at Russell County High School in Russell Springs. In each event, local emergency responders will conduct a rescue from a mock all-terrain vehicle (ATV) accident in front of students at the high school football field. Victims will be flown from the scene on medical helicopters.

The KDA’s Farm & Home Safety Program travels to schools, civic groups, and major events such as the National Farm Machinery Show and the Kentucky State Fair. Program staff use a rollover tractor simulator, a miniature grain bin and wagon, a power takeoff (PTO), an anhydrous ammonia tank, and ATVs to demonstrate some of the hazards of farming and rural life. The program reaches some 1.5 million people a year.

The number of fatalities in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting in Kentucky totaled 16 in 2016, according to the Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program’s annual report.

— Kentucky Department of Agriculture

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