Fewer Farm Deaths

The number of farming-related deaths in Kentucky fell
19 percent in 2000 compared with the previous year, according to a report from
the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center.

The annual report from the center’s Kentucky
FACE (Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation) Project says 17 people died
in farming accidents last year, down from 21 in 1999 and 65 percent lower than
the recent high of 48 deaths in 1995.

"We applaud the farmers throughout Kentucky
who go the extra mile to stay out of harm’s way," says Kentucky Agriculture
Commissioner Billy Ray Smith.

"People are changing their habits. Safety
is a choice, and more farmers are making that choice," says Dale Dobson,
a Larue County farmer who Commissioner Smith named the Agriculture Department’s
farm and home safety field officer nearly three years ago.

Of the 17 people who died last year, 13 were
50 and over, and four were 80 and over. None was younger than 20. Once again,
farm machinery was listed as the cause of more deaths (nine) than all other farming-related
causes combined.

The department offers a farm and home safety
plan at no charge. The plan contains useful safety tips and space for adding emergency
contact information. To obtain a copy, call (502) 564-4696 or download the plan
from the department’s Web site at www.kyagr.com.

Odd Names, KY

Author and illustrator Jim Erskine likes Kentucky’s
unusual place names so much he’s started a Web site about spots like Black Gnat,
Stop, and Goodnight. You can visit www.realkentuckyplaces.com
to see the list of 300 names, read commentary, look at pictures and drawings,
and, of course, buy the T-shirt.