Tractor Safety Competition At Cumberland County Fairgrounds
Contact: Richard Brzozowski, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Cumberland County office, 1-800-287-1471 (within Maine)
ORONO, Maine — Speed may count in an upcoming farm tractor competition in Cumberland, but skill and safety will take top prize. Farmers and farm workers can now register to compete in one of three divisions in the 2004 Maine State Farm Tractor Skills Competition on Sept. 26 at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds.
Tractor operators who want to participate in the events can submit their entry forms to the University of Maine Cooperative Extension office in Portland. Contest information and forms are available at www.umext.maine.edu or by calling 1-800-287-1471. There is a $10 entry fee. The deadline is 4:30 p.m., Sept. 24.
Prizes will be awarded as follows: first place, $250; second place, $150; third place, $100; and fourth place, $50.
The purpose of the event is to promote tractor safety, says Richard Brzozowski, Cooperative Extension educator in Cumberland County. “I developed this contest to draw attention to the tractor operation skills of Maine farmers and to promote farm safety. This is not a tractor rodeo,” Brzozowski adds.
The competition will require operators to drive a tractor and wagon through a course of gates and alleys. Points will be deducted for hitting gates or tipping over items on the wagon. Operators will also be tested on their skills at hooking and unhooking a tractor to a farm implement.
Sponsors for the 2004 Maine Tractor Skills Competition include Pineland Farms of New Gloucester and the Maine Farm Bureau. Tractors for the contest will be provided by Hall Implement of Windham, Scamman Tractor of Saco and Wescott & Sons of Gorham.
More information is available on the internet at http://www.umext.maine.edu/topics/tractorskills04.htm.