NCERA197: Agricultural Safety and Health Research and Extension

(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)

Status: Active

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SAES-422 Reports

Annual/Termination Reports:

[07/20/2026]

Date of Annual Report: 07/20/2026

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 05/19/2026 - 05/21/2026
Period the Report Covers: 05/20/2025 - 07/20/2026

Participants

See meeting minutes attachment.

Brief Summary of Minutes

Detailed minutes are attached. The majority of the 2026 meeting involved reviewing the 2025-2030 proposal and assigning roles, committees, and goals.

Accomplishments

The work of the NCERA-197 continues to be dynamic and diverse, with a range of committee members from the North Central region and beyond, including Pennsylvania, Florida, California, Utah, Alabama and others. The committee is comprised of a combination of agricultural safety and health leaders and experts from the land-grant universities represented, but also several important partners, including the National Children’s Center for Ag Safety; the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers; the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; representatives from Canada’s organizations that promote ag safety; and others.  We focus on the multi-state charge to work together on collaboratively prioritized objectives. These objectives create a framework that encourages multi-state work seen through direct project collaboration across states, cooperation on “center” grant efforts and activities, whether through NIOSH-funded centers or state/regional center efforts, and authorship on educational materials, technical reports, and peer-reviewed journal articles. Since this is the first year of our newest proposal (2025-2030), we are reporting on the preliminary work started by our objective teams, which includes: <ul> <li>Objective 1: Address emerging hazards in agriculture and novel opportunities in agricultural safety and health. This objective is broken down into five subcategories: <ul> <li>Emerging Technologies and Automation</li> <li>Heat and Environmental Risks</li> <li>Roadway Safety</li> <li>ATV/UTV Safety</li> <li>Zoonotic and Emerging Infectious Diseases</li> </ul> </li> <li>Objective 2: Foster agricultural safety and health research, outreach, and Extension partnerships to expand program impact</li> <li>Objective 3: Serve a wide range of agricultural farm workers, including paid and family employees and other key agricultural audiences.</li> <li>Objective 4: Build capacity and mentorship for the next generation of agricultural safety and health professionals.</li> </ul> Committees that reported on their outcomes, outputs, activities, and milestones during the first year of the new proposal are listed below.  Short-term outcomes: <ul> <li>Capacity Building and Mentorship: None to report at this time</li> <li>Roadway Safety: None to report at this time</li> <li>Heat and Environmental Risks: None to report at this time</li> <li>Zoonotic and Emerging Infectious Diseases: <ul> <li> The subgroup clarified its immediate direction for 2025–2026, including team formation, capacity assessment, partnership mapping, baseline documentation, and initial product development. Short-term outcomes include greater coordination among NCERA-197 members working on zoonotic disease issues, an emerging shared understanding of agricultural exposure pathways, and identification of the need for Extension-ready materials and resource evaluation tools. </li> <li> The group also began organizing around a One Health approach that connects agricultural safety and health with veterinary medicine, public health, epidemiology, Extension, and worker protection. This early coordination helps position the subgroup to address emerging hazards in agriculture while supporting NCERA-197 objectives related to partnerships, worker reach, and capacity building. </li> </ul> </li> <li>ATV/UTV Safety: <ul> <li>Established the NCERA-197 ATV & UTV Safety subgroup with representatives from multiple states.</li> <li>Identified ATV/UTV roadway safety as the subgroup’s initial collaborative priority.</li> <li>Initiated discussions on developing a multi-state white paper addressing ATV/UTV roadway safety, state regulations, engineering considerations, and injury prevention.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> Outputs: <ul> <li>Capacity Building and Mentorship <ul> <li>The subcommittee completed a draft document outlining foundational elements for mentoring and capacity building in agricultural safety and health (ASH). This document outlines core knowledge topics organized under key subheadings, including understanding the scope of the problem, identifying hazards, recognizing key body systems and associated diseases, applying behavioral models, implementing interventions and controls, responding to acute injuries, and considering special populations. In addition, the document identifies primary audiences for these efforts, such as undergraduate and graduate students, faculty engaged in ASH, extension specialists, and agricultural producers. It also highlights essential resources to support learning and professional development, including a selection of key textbooks and relevant websites</li> <li>Jepsen, D., Moore, K., Freeman, S., Gorucu, S., Johnson, A. (2026, June) Creating Mentorship Opportunities for Agricultural Safety and Health Professionals. 8th International Symposium on Safety and Health in Agricultural and Rural Populations (SHARP). Saskatoon, SK. </li> </ul> </li> <li>Roadway Safety: None to report at this time</li> <li>Heat and Environmental Risks:  <ul> <li>See publications list</li> </ul> </li> <li>Zoonotic and Emerging Infectious Disease: <ul> <li>A proposed subgroup framework and operating structure for NCERA-197 Zoonotic and Emerging Infectious Diseases.</li> <li>A “straw man” content outline identifying core knowledge areas, audiences, and resource needs.</li> <li>An Extension rubric for evaluating zoonotic disease educational materials.</li> <li>A scoring key and example application of the rubric.</li> <li>A preliminary literature and Extension resource review effort focused on best available outreach materials.</li> <li>A list of potential external contacts and partners to strengthen biosecurity and zoonotic disease expertise.</li> </ul> </li> <li>ATV/UTV Safety:</li> <ul> <li> Developed a preliminary framework and outline for a collaborative white paper on ATV/UTV roadway safety. </li> <li> Shared ongoing ATV safety research and Extension activities from participating states to identify opportunities for future collaboration. </li> </ul> </ul> Activities: <ul> <li>Roadway Safety:  <ul> <li> The committee convened during the spring meeting to discuss opportunities to promote roadway safety. The activities this subcommittee identified to work on in future collaborations include: <ul> <li> Host webinars on Roadway Safety for National Farm Safety week. </li> <li> Host other webinars throughout the year on topics:  <ul> <li>tractors and equipment</li> <li>grain semis/ and tandem axle trailers</li> <li>logging trucks</li> <li>transportation issues for supervisors of large workforces (i.e. migrant labor, Anabaptist, etc)</li> <li>sharing the road with animal drawn vehicles</li> <li>public interface messages and promotions </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> Report out work <ul> <li>Committee members participate in for lighting and marking standards .</li> </ul> </li> <li> State by state - Roadway analysis reports: identify FARS data by state; identify journal articles; update past White Paper- Discussion that literacy reporting is passive – and we need to take a more active approach with general public (i.e. videos / social media)</li> <li> Inventory existing resources to identify training programs available for truck operators: CDL for semi drivers, overweight trucks, lighting, liability</li> <li> Discussed engineering and technology approaches: dash cam and sensors, machine learning technology, </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li>Capacity Building and Mentorship: <ul> <li>Working from a strawman document, participants at the NCERA-197 annual meeting identified core knowledge topics in agricultural safety and health (ASH), as well as key audiences and available resources.</li> <li>Building on this initial exercise, several committee members led a professional development session at the 8th International Symposium on Safety and Health in Agricultural and Rural Populations (SHARP). In addition to an overview and panel discussion, the group presented a document outlining 13 core ASH knowledge areas. Attendees were asked to identify which topics they currently incorporate into training, select their top 3–5 priority areas, and indicate gaps where additional training is needed. This process resulted in the identification of four priority topics: economic impacts of illness and injury, animal hazards, electrical hazards, and respiratory hazards.</li> <li>The subcommittee also discussed developing a series of 30-minute presentations on priority training topics, tailored to specific audiences. These presentations will initially be delivered to NCERA-197 members for feedback, with the long-term goal of creating adaptable resources for training and instruction across states.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Heat and Environmental Risks: <ul> <li>The group held a kickoff meeting on December 8, 2025, to review objectives and establish initial priorities. Members agreed to focus first on heat stress and began compiling relevant literature and resources in a shared repository. A preliminary outline for a white paper was also initiated.</li> <li>Follow-up meetings were held on January 30, February 27, and March 27. During these sessions the group refined the white paper outline. Key sections include:  <ul> <li>Standards and best practices</li> <li>Education and training</li> <li>Prevention strategies</li> <li>Treatment and recovery</li> <li>Technology (wearables, mobile applications, and cooling technology)</li> <li>Impact of personal protective equipment (PPE)</li> <li>Injury surveillance</li> <li>Emerging research needs</li> </ul> </li> <li>During the May 20th annual meeting, members participated in a breakout session to identify additional emerging issues related to heat stress in agricultural workers. </li> </ul> </li> <li>Zoonotic and Emerging Infectious Disease: <ul> <li> The subgroup participated in NCERA-197 planning activities leading up to the December 17 meeting, where objective team leaders were asked to identify team structures, goals, external partners, milestones, and expectations. The Zoonotic and Emerging Infectious Diseases subgroup was listed under Objective 1, with Aaron Yoder as lead and John Shutske, Michael Pate, Bill Folk, and Andrea Swenson as team members. </li> <li> Members began reviewing Extension and outreach materials related to zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases, with a graduate student assisting in locating and reviewing examples. The review is intended to support search strategies, writing efforts, and potential publication or Extension material development. </li> <li> The subgroup also began identifying content priorities such as biosecurity, One Health, outbreak response, worker protection, exposure pathways, behavioral models, and the hierarchy of controls. Proposed activity areas include research coordination, Extension and outreach, standards and policy engagement, external partnership development, and professional development. </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <ul> <li>ATV/UTV:  <ul> <li> Held subgroup discussions during NCERA-197 meetings to identify priority topics. </li> <li> Reviewed differences in state ATV/UTV roadway regulations and identified national data sources relevant to roadway safety. </li> <li> Discussed California engineering research and Missouri Extension outreach activities as examples of expertise that can support future multi-state projects. </li> <li> Building on past NCERA committee work to inform audiences about ATV Safety, a 3-hour workshop was conducted in Ohio, emphasizing Education, Engineering, and Roadway Enforcement guidelines. The program was part of the All-Ohio Safety Congress; the audience of 27 people represented state and local parks and recreation officials, law enforcement officers, soil and water districts, construction industry, public utility workers, and private industry agronomists. Evaluation results showed 92% satisfaction rating for increased knowledge of best management safety practices for ATV usage and injury prevention, as well as providing quality resources to employers to implement&ensp;in their workplace. A panel discussion with law enforcement officers was highly rated, with qualitative comments of “the panel was highly engaging” and ”clarified roadway safety regulations." </li> </ul> </li> </ul> Milestones: <ul> <li>Capacity Building and Mentorship: <ul> <li>The committee has identified core knowledge areas and will continue refining these while developing corresponding core competencies for ASH professionals in year two. In addition, the group will begin piloting training presentations and explore methods for disseminating this information, including through the eXtension platform.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Roadway Safety: <ul> <li>The committee will update the white paper; participate in Standards committee meetings with ASABE; and identify education resources for farm workers and supervisors. Additionally, the committee will take leadership to conduct webinars about roadway safety in the upcoming year.  </li> </ul> </li> <li>Heat and Environmental Risks: <ul> <li>The committee will continue development of the white paper during year  two. It will also promote the adoption of evidence-based heat injury prevention guidelines, including the development of new materials for Extension programming. Additionally, the committee will make progress in developing and evaluating devices to monitor heat stress and provide supplemental cooling to workers.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Zoonotic and Emerging Infectious Diseases: <ul> <li> Near-term milestones include formalizing the subgroup charter and scope, inventorying current NCERA-197 zoonotic-related activities, identifying two to three priority disease or exposure areas, and hosting at least one cross-disciplinary planning session. The broader five-year plan includes pilot testing Extension materials, submitting collaborative grant proposals, presenting at national conferences, launching online training resources, publishing peer-reviewed manuscripts or white papers, and documenting impacts for NCERA-197 reporting. </li> <li> For Year 1, the proposed timeline includes establishing governance and communication protocols, completing a needs assessment and resource inventory, initiating contact with priority external partners, and presenting the subgroup plan at the NCERA-197 annual meeting. </li> </ul> </li> <li>ATV/UTV Safety: <ul> <li> Formed the NCERA-197 ATV & UTV Safety subgroup. </li> <li> Selected roadway ATV/UTV safety as the first collaborative topic. </li> <li> Prepared a proposed framework for a future white paper. </li> </ul> </li> </ul>

Publications

Please see the attachment highlighting publications and impact work during the first year of our 2025-2030 proposal.

Impact Statements

Health and Safety Improvements: Injury risks and fatalities are being reduced through better training (e.g., tractor certification, ATV safety), proactive hazard identification, and adoption of rollover protection and fall prevention strategies.