The National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety reported in 2016 that every day about 33 children are injured in agriculture-related accidents and every three days, a child dies in an agriculture-related incident. Among household youth on farms, injury rates increased in 2014 for youth 10-19 years. From 2003 to 2010, among workers younger than 16 years, the number of worker fatalities in agriculture were consistently higher than in all non-agricultural industries combined.  

The Spencer County Cooperative Extension Service and the Family Resource Center, along with the Principals, Counselors from the two elementary schools, saw the need to continue Ag Day because of the statistical information above. Several community partners were sought out to make this event a reality. The Spencer County Farm Bureau provided lunch for all of the booths and volunteers. Spencer County FFA students served as hosts for each of the classrooms. The Spencer County Board of Education provided buses for Taylorsville Elementary to get to the field at Spencer County Elementary for the event. Spencer County Elementary Parent Teacher Association volunteered at various locations during the event. 

Spencer County Ag Day was another huge success in the fall of 2017. All of the elementary age students enrolled in Spencer County Schools, grades kindergarten to fifth, participated in this event reaching nearly 1,400 students with 50 plus volunteers assisting.  

The participants in the event included: local 4-H youth with heifers, sheep, dairy goats, swine producers, rabbits, poultry participants, horses, mums, and country hams, as well as others including the Soybean Board, corps of engineers, and the fish and wildlife department.

The youth of Spencer County not only learned about local agriculture, but also safety. It is the goal of the Spencer County Cooperative Extension Office that Spencer County students will not be included in the statistics above. All county agents worked together getting the booth participants to be there and collaborated with the local school system to plan the event. Due to inclement weather the ag day map and rotation had to be re-worked the day before the event which was a group effort by the SCES counselor and agents. The 4-H Youth Development Agent secured funding through Spencer County Farm Bureau to provide lunch, healthy snacks, and waters for all volunteers, as well as working with the local FFA chapter to supply group leaders for the event. The Family and Consumer Science and Agriculture Agents took care of all of the food for the day. This is definitely a group effort by the staff of the Spencer County Extension Office!