To help keep all local farmers and citizens safe, Polk County’s upcoming Ag Safety Awareness Program week from Feb. 28 through March 6 will focus on the importance of paying extra attention and slowing down on the roads for tractors and other slower moving farm vehicles.

With the seasonal beginning of planting, fertilizing and other farming related activities in Polk County, tractors and other farm equipment will be using the roads more than normal, said Dianne Davis, chair of the Polk County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee.

Because tractors and other agricultural equipment cannot move as fast as other vehicles on the road, Davis said the local Farm Bureau will be posting small signs saying “See A Tractor, Slow Down” on the sides of the road throughout Polk County.

“Agricultural safety is important to farmers and should be important to everyone concerned,” she said. “Our emphasis this year is tractor/equipment safety on the road.”

In the last 12 months, she said there have been serious tractor/vehicle accidents in Rutherford, Catawba and Cleveland Counties that almost were fatal to farmers.

“We are hoping and praying that these signs will get the attention of folks so no accidents happen in our county,” she said.