BELMONT, NEW YORK – Tractor Safety Certification Training
& Contests
Lynn Bliven, Agriculture & Natural Resources Issue
Leader
Allegany County 4-H and FFA sponsored a Tractor and
Machinery Safety Certification Training in June. Training was geared toward
youth ages 14-15 seeking work on a farm. This certification is required to
legally enable their employment on non-family-owned farms. While the
certification is not required for youth working on their family farm, many farm
owners seek out the training for their children calling the class a valuable
educational experience. As one farmer put it, “maybe a busy working dad isn’t the
best one to cover safety training.”
Special thanks to Cuba-Rushford School for hosting part of
the program and for providing tractors for students to use during the training.
To Genesee Valley, Cuba Rushford, and Fillmore School Districts for support
through their FFA programs; providing instruction from teachers Carolyn Wright,
Carly Santangelo and Sara Haggerty. Thanks as well to Lynn Bliven, CCE Allegany
County for facilitating and teaching during the training.
We were also fortunate to have Jim Carrabba from the New
York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH) provide
demonstrations on the importance of safe operating practices and personal
protective equipment. Visual presentations are often more impactful in
enforcing how quickly an accident can occur, far more rapidly than humans can
respond.
This year we had 10 candidates complete the training. They
were then eligible to enter the Tractor Operators’ contest at the Allegany
County Fair on Tuesday, July 20th along youth certified in prior years. First
place senior at the county level went to Jim Eshelman, 1st place junior was
awarded Wyatt Tyler.
Those successfully competing at county level were able to
move on to the statewide contest on July 24th at the Genesee County Fairgrounds
in Batavia. We had 3 youth choosing to participate in the statewide Tractor
Driving Contest. Shane Ploetz was 1st in juniors and high overall for the
contest. Mason Findley placed 8th and Conner Armison 9th in the junior
division. Contestants are judged on driving a 2-wheel and 4-wheel implement
through a course including backing up. Each of these events is timed. They also
are tested on general knowledge of tractor safety and identification of tractor
parts. The participant with the lowest score, least penalty points, wins the
contest.
Tractor Safety Certification Training is one of many programs offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Allegany County (CCE-Allegany). The association is part of the national cooperative extension system, an educational partnership between County, State, and Federal governments. As New York’s land grant university Cornell administers the system in this state. For more information, call 585-268-7644 or visit our website at www.cce.cornell.edu/allegany. Cornell Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities.
