Agriculture is one of the most hazardous occupations with 1 in 5 agriculture producers being affected by a disability. Transportation incidents, which include tractor overturns and roadway crashes, were the leading cause of death for farmers and farm workers and caused injuries from minor to debilitating. How can we prevent fatalities and injuries? The role of AgrAbility with helping farmers/ranchers to continue to work.

As farms grow and equipment gets larger, ag machinery is spending more time on public roads, raising safety risks for everyone. This session explores how lighting, marking standards, and recent regulations can reduce crashes. It also covers emerging risks tied to trailering, longer routes, and autonomous machinery.

COMET is a direct response to rural community members’ concern about mental health needs. COMET is a community-based intervention to activate community members and provide them with language, tools, and confidence to intervene when they notice someone around them is unwell – and before a mental health crisis occurs. COMET supports community wellness by focusing on the upstream prevention of mental and emotional health crises.

The center of rural communities are farms and those that operate them. But healthy farms and livestock operations need healthy people to care for them and healthy animals that live on them.

"From the Heartland to the Hospital" is an insightful review focusing on the critical period between when a trauma incident occurs and when emergency medical services (EMS) or the patient arrives at the emergency department. This review covers best practices, challenges, and strategies for improving outcomes during this crucial time frame. It will explore topics such as first responder actions, bystander interventions, and the coordination between EMS and hospital teams to ensure timely and effective care.

This Train the Trainer course is designed for teachers, Extension staff, 4H and FFA leaders and others who work with young adults. Agricultural producers are at high risk for acquiring a zoonotic disease related to their work environment with minimal information related to risks, symptoms and prevention. The majority of emerging infectious diseases in the U.S. are zoonotic in nature. They are often difficult to determine and many go unreported for a variety of reasons.

Farming is one of the most dangerous occupations but also one of the most stressful. Yet, we often hear that farmers work through injuries, illnesses, or burnout even though doing so can delay recovery and in some cases, worsen their condition. In this webinar, Florence Becot from Pennsylvania State University and Andy Bater a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Board and of the AgriSafe Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Advisory Council, will discuss why farmers continue working despite health challenges and highlight the importance of developing substitute labor solutions to support farmers’ well-being and farm business viability. As an example of a long-established model, Julien Deroo and Karim Cheurfa Molinier will present the French substitute farmer program, la “Fédération des Services de Remplacement”. Started 50 years ago, this network of 300 non-profit organizations across France serves a dual purpose. First, it provides substitute labor so that work on the farm can continue while farmers regain their health as well as when they need to be away from the farm for other purposes. Second, it serves as a workforce development platform for the agricultural sector as many of the substitute farmers earn practical experience in addition to their school training and/or already have hands-on farming experience. Created by farmers for farmers and managed by them through a mix of funding sources, its membership includes 67,000 farmer members (15% of the farming population in France) and 15,000 substitute farmers, and it has facilitated the substitution of 5 million work hours on farms last year. Agnes Papone, a farmer and elected representative of a “Service de Remplacement” in the southeast of France, will then share her family’s experience using the program. We will leave time for an interactive discussion with the audience about opportunities and challenges to develop substitute farmer programs in the U.S.

For producers, spotting the first signs of a possible avian influenza outbreak can bring on a flood of stress, worry, and tough decisions. The emotional toll — before, during, and after flock depopulation — is real, and it affects everyone involved. So how do we recognize when someone’s struggling with all of this? And maybe more importantly, how do we show up for them — as coworkers and team members?

Overdose deaths are a leading cause of injury-related death in the United States and the majority of overdose deaths involve opioids. This epidemic is impacting communities all across the country. Naloxone is a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids when given in time. This session is designed to prepare communities and non-medical public and safety professionals to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose. Participants will learn the warning signs of opioid overdose and how to intervene safely using naloxone.