of America

A Proclamation

From the beginning of our Nation's history, agriculture has been one of the major elements of the American success story. Since this country was founded, when over 90 percent of its labor force was on the farm, it has excelled at growing food and other agricultural products. This success was achieved long before we became a leader in industry, technology, science, and commerce.

Today, technological advances have made possible productivity undreamed of in the days when Cyrus McCormack designed and built the first horse-drawn reaper. The United States now supplies food to millions of people around the world, and our productive capabilities grow still greater every year.

But the farmer's life is still difficult and dangerous. While the new technology that makes such bounty possible has brought advances in safety, it also carries its own risks, and requires knowledge and care in its use. Incidents of accidental death, injury, and job-related illnesses are still tragically numerous on the farms, in the homes, and on the roads of rural America. But with increased education about the need for farm safety, and with ongoing improvements in product design, there is hope that we can make real progress in protecting America's farmers and their families from accidents and injuries.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of September 15 through September 21, 1985, as National Farm Safety Week. I urge all those Americans engaged in agriculture or its related services, and especially those training inexperienced or young workers, to establish and follow safety procedures and instill dedication and commitment to safety and health care in all those who can be influenced by their example.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth.

Ronald Reagan

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:30 p.m., May 24, 1985]

Note: The proclamation was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on May 24.