Farmworker Safety Day

Over 250 participants attended a Farmworker Safety Day yesterday at Cline Church Nursery in Ashe County. Over 190 farmworkers from Ashe, Watauga, Alleghany, and Avery rotated through stations covering pesticide safety, health & first aid, chainsaw safety, backpack sprayer maintenance, hazardous farm plants and critters, heavy equipment safety, and local laws/customs. Watauga & Avery Farm Bureau, Carolina Farm Credit, and Southern Ag sponsored this event which was organized by Watauga & Ashe Cooperative Extension and the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute.

Presenters included: Katie Gray, a naturalist from Grandfather Mountain, Denny Paternak and Jimmy Cox from the NC Highway Patrol, Russel Choate from the NC Division of Forest Resources, Keith Eller from the Upper Mountain Research Station, Emily Dixon and her staff from the Farmworker Health Program, Jill Sidebottom & Jeff Owen, conifer specialists from NC Cooperative Extension, Cliff Parker, an ag liability and crop insurance consultant, and Ritchie Gardener from CPS.

Translators were on hand at each station, as a majority of the farmworker participants were Spanish-speakers from the Christmas tree and landscaping industries.

4-H’ers Earn Recognition

Emily Cornett, 18 year old 4-H member, has earned the 4-H Gold Achievement medal.  The NC 4-H Achievement Plan program helps youth set goals in 4-H. Emily demonstrated incredible self-initiative and follow-through to complete the plan.  To earn the award, she worked through three other levels over several years and had seventeen tasks to complete for the gold medal.  Emily is aging out of 4-H.  Over the years, she Emily has been a stellar 4-H member, participating in projects from animals to expressive arts, to participating the presentation and project record programs, to serving as club president, leading groups with kids and more. 

Erica Cornett entered district competition for the 4-H presentation program.  She delivered a demonstration on scrapbooking, earning her a silver medal.   Her presentation inspired others to get started scrapbooking!  She also received a silver medal for her project record in the animal science category with her project on rabbits.