According to agfax, every three days a child dies in an ag-related incident.  For youth working on the farm, tractors are the leading cause of death, followed by ATV’s.  Each day, approximately 33 children are injured in an agriculture-related accident.   

Webster County Extension has been a recipient of the Progressive Ag Foundation Safety Day Grant for the past 10 years.  The mission for the foundation is to “Provide education, training and resources to make farm, ranch and rural life safer and healthier for children and their communities”.

Webster County Cooperative Extension Service, Webster County Conservation District, Webster County Board of Education, Progressive AG foundation and local agri-business’ worked together to plan, implement and evaluate the 31^st annual Webster County Progressive Ag and Safety Day.  Over one hundred-fifty fourth graders, twenty FFA members and fifty volunteers attended.  Students were in groups of twenty-five and rotated to seven different educational sites on a working farm.  Topics included ATV, Electrical, fire and chemical safety; lawnmower safety, grain crop awareness and soil and water conservation.  

A participant survey, developed by the progressive agriculture foundation, was given to sixty-five students two weeks after the program.  According to survey results, thirty-eight percent of the students learned the most at fire safety and 26% indicated they learned the most at electrical safety.  Eighteen percent reported they learned the most at ATV safety.  Combined, eighty—two percent of the respondents learned something that could potentially save their life or the life of another person.  Seventy-seven percent of the students indicated they were going to wear safety gear (goggles and ear protection) when operating a lawnmower.   Seventy-eight percent reported they learned that only one person could ride a lawnmower and/or an ATV at a time.   

The longevity of this program, which began in 1987, has proven the need and impact.  Over the past 31 years, nearly five thousand fourth graders have attended Youth Ag and Safety Day.  The lives saved or changed may never be known, but the support from stakeholders is a huge indicator of the long-term impact this program has had in Webster County, Kentucky.