(Morrisville, NY – Feb. 2015) Did you know that in New York State, farm employees must be 16 years old in order to be hired to operate farm equipment or machinery? Madison County Cornell Cooperative Extension will soon be hosting the 2015 4-H Agriculture & Tractor Safety Certification Program available to 14 and 15 year olds interested in gaining employment on a farm.
This seven session course will cover many components of agriculture safety including tractor safety, animal safety, lawn, yard and garden equipment. With the successful completion of this course 14 and 15 year olds are eligible to be hired on a farm. The first session will be held at Morrisville State College, Marshall Hall, Diesel Tech Lab on Feb. 23 at 6 p.m.
This course is offered to teens to help reduce the number of deaths while operating equipment. To achieve this, the knowledge learned must be used wisely. To pass the course participants must attend every session, complete the work book, and pass both the written exam and the practical driving test. At the end of the course participants will receive a certificate from the Department of Labor. It is required by law that employers ask for this certificate from a 14 or 15 year old before hiring.
The 4-H Tractor Safety and Certification Course class fee will be $10 for the manual and printed materials. This program is a cooperative effort of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County, the Madison County FFA Agricultural Programs, and Morrisville State College. Sessions will be held at the following locations: Morrisville State College, Cazenovia Equipment, Gold Star Feed, Empire Tractor, Kelsey’s Monanfran Farms, and Madison Central School.
Enrollment is required before the first session, which will be held at Morrisville State College on Feb. 23 from 6 to 9 p.m.
For more information, contact Katherine at Cornell Cooperative Extension at (315) 684-3001 ext 100 or email kmb279@cornell.edu.
Course registration is available online at: https://reg.cce.cornell.edu/MadisonCountyTractorSafety_225