June is National Safety Month, and Southern States, along with the National Safety Council is on a mission to prevent unintentional injury and death awareness and asking people to adopt and maintain safe and healthy practices in the workplace, on the highway, in their homes and communities, and on the farm.

Whether it’s wearing sunscreen outdoors, developing an emergency fire evacuation plan for your home, or agreeing with your teens not to text or talk on your cell phones while driving, June is a great month to adopt new habits that can prevent death or serious injuries.

Sadly, thousands of children are injured or killed every year by hazards found on the farm. Some of these young people are helping out by doing chores on the farm, while others simply wander into trouble on their own, or worse‚ are allowed into hazardous areas by an otherwise responsible adult. Make youngsters aware of potential dangers and implement injury prevention plans today to protect agriculture’s greatest resource, our children. Check out the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety’s website www.necasag.org for tips and more information about farm safety.

Get this summer off to a great start by adopting smart, safe and healthy practices in June and throughout the year. Now that’s a plan we can all live with!

Southern States is a Richmond, Virginia-based farm supply and service cooperative, founded in 1923, that now has more than 300,000 farmer-members. As one of the nation’s largest agricultural cooperatives, it provides a wide range of farm inputs, including fertilizer, seed, livestock feed and pet food, animal health supplies and petroleum products, as well as other items for the farm and home. The cooperative serves its members and non-member customers through 1,200 retail outlets. Please visit www.southernstates.com for more information.