Proclamation 5671—National Farm Safety Week, 1987

We Americans know that our efficient farmers each supply food and fiber for more than 100 people, including many who live abroad. We know too, sadly, that farming and ranching have always been hazardous occupations—that every year agricultural producers suffer a disproportionate number of serious and often fatal injuries and illnesses during work, travel, and recreation, and that an additional toll is extracted in property damage, time loss, and medical costs. We do find that accident rates are declining, however, and this good news can help us further promote farm and ranch safety.

Most accidents and work illnesses can be prevented, often by simple and inexpensive or no-cost measures. Protective equipment, used in many industries to help assure worker safety and health, proves equally useful on farms and ranches if always used when jobs or working conditions call for it. Complex preventive measures are rarely required, and safety and health information is available from many local sources. But best of all, of course, is exercising appropriate care in all daily activities to protect ourselves from potential hazards ahead of time.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim the week of September 20 through September 26, 1987, as National Farm Safety Week. I urge all those who live and work on farms or ranches to take necessary precautions to protect their safety and health, both on the job and off, both at home and on the roads. I also urge everyone allied with agriculture to strengthen their safety and health efforts by example and by educational programs. I encourage all Americans to participate in appropriate events and activities in observance of National Farm Safety Week and to note the vast contributions Americans in agriculture make to our Nation.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh.

RONALD REAGAN