UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- When you're stuck behind slow-moving farm machinery on a busy rural highway, it's easy to forget that the driver is working with complex -- and sometimes hazardous -- equipment. That's exactly the point of a special presentation on farm equipment safety to be held at Penn State's Ag Progress Days, Aug. 15-17.

Representatives of the Northern York County Regional Police Department, based in Dover, Pa., will present "Farm Equipment on the Highway: How It Applies to You," which looks at important aspects of farm vehicle safety, both on and off the farm. Officer Thomas McCune, who created and conducts the presentation, says the purpose of the training is to help farmers and others appreciate that combines and tractors are very powerful equipment that must be handled with skill and great care.

"We want to give farmers and non-farmers insight into how farm vehicles should be used on the highway, and the regulations and restrictions that apply to the vehicles," McCune says. "Also, we offer safety tips for operating trucks, tractors and other special-purpose vehicles on the farm."

McCune will review traffic laws pertaining to farm tractors, trucks and other farming implements. For instance, the fee for farm truck registration is less than that for standard vehicles, but the truck has to be used exclusively on the farm or for produce or commodities dealing with the farm. "You can't take your family down to the beach in a truck with a farmtruck license," he says. The presentation updates farmers on rules that have changed over time and clarifies some gray areas.

Robert Oberheim, manager of Ag Progress Days, says he learned of the farm equipment safety program through the enthusiastic endorsements of commercial equipment exhibitors. "We're always looking for new and interesting topics for Ag Progress Days," he says. "I'm pleased about their participation."

The presentation will be held at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday in the College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building Theater on Main Street, between West 9th and West 10th Streets (near the farmhouse), and on Thursday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the adjacent College Building Tent.

Penn State's Ag Progress Days features more than 500 acres of educational and commercial exhibits, tours and machinery demonstrations. It is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, nine miles southwest of State College on Route 45. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday. Admission and parking are free.

For more information, call (800) PSU-1010 toll-free through August 17 or visit the Ag Progress Days site on the World Wide Web at http://apd.cas.psu.edu.

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EDITORS: Robert Oberheim can be reached at 814-692-5262. For more information about Penn State's Ag Progress Days, contact Chuck Gill at 814-863-2713 or Jennifer MacIsaac at 814-865-3636.

Contacts: Gary Abdullah gxa2@psu.edu 814-863-2708 814-865-1068 fax