In the year 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the first proclamation for farm safety due to the high injury in the agricultural industry. Since then, agriculturalists nationwide celebrate National Farm Safety and Health Week during the third week of September to raise awareness of the high occurrence of injuries that happen daily on the farm.
On September 24th, 2021, the Missouri State University Cattlemen’s Association hosted the Farm Safety Day at Pinegar Arena. Five schools from the southwest region traveled to partake in this educational event. The day started off by Dr. Elizabeth Walker, professor at the Darr College of Agriculture, sharing about the importance of why farm safety is relevant within the industry. Students then rotated to different booths throughout the morning to listen to various speakers share about the different aspects of farm safety. Those include Mental Health Awareness, Animal Vaccine Safety, Electricity Safety, Tractor Safety, Cattle Handling, Pesticide Safety, and Grain Bin Safety. Representatives from Merck, University of Missouri Extension, Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, Show Me Power Electrical Co-op, Missouri State University – Animal Sciences Department, Darr Student Employees and MU Pesticide Safety Education Program all lead the presentations at each station.
To conclude the day, students ate a delicious meal grilled by Polk County Cattlemen’s Association and was served by members of the MSU Cattlemen’s Association. Students walked away from the event at Pinegar Arena being more aware of the importance of Farm Safety, thanks to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the year 1944, and to the MSU Cattlemen’s Association.
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